
^M^ 

^^^^^^7^ 



n 



il 







A Rape Plant Grown for Seed. 

— Whatcom County, Washington. 



FORAGE 
CROPS 



OTHER 

THAN GRASSES 



How to Cultivate, 

Harvest 

and Use Them 



By... 

THOMAS SHAW 

Professor of Animal Husbandry at the University of Minnesota 

Author of 
Public School Agriculture" "Weeds and How to Eradicate Them" 
"The Study of Breeds" "Soiling Crops and the Silo" 




ILLUSTRATED 



New York 

ORANGE JUDD COMPANY 

1900 



8EC0ND COPY. 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED, 

Library of Cengret% 
Office of the 

D€C 1 fi u^y 

Register of Copyrights, 



64917 

Copyright, 1)599 

BY 
OKANGE JUDD COMPANY 



'J^ 






To the Farmers and Stockmen of America, this work is 
most respectfully dedicated by the Author. 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 



This work has been written in the hope of meet- 
ing a long-felt want. It has been the aim of the 
writer to adapt it to the needs of the farmer, the 
stockman and the agricultural student. It is left 
with the agriculturists of this country to say how far 
these objects have been attained. 

University Experiment Farm, 
St. Anthony Park, Minn., igoo. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



Chapter I. 

PAGE 

Forage Crops ---------i 

Chapter II. 
Indian Corn or Maize -------g 

Chapter III. 
Sorghum ---.-------28 

Chapter IV. 

The Non-Saccharine Sorghums ----- 48 

Chapter V. 
Plants of the Clover Family - - - - - - 67 

Chapter VI. 
Leguminous Plants Other Than Clover - - - - 103 

Chapter VIL 
Rape and Cabbage -------- 145 

Chapter VIII. 
The Common Cereals ------- 170 

Chapter IX. 
Millet ----- 189 

Chapter X. 
Root Crops -----__.- 202 

Chapter XL 
Miscellaneous Plants ------- 221 

Chapter XII. 
Succession in Forage Crops ------ 252 

Chapter XIII. 

Sheep Pastures Grown at the Minnesota University Ex- 
periment Farm - ..--.- 261 



CHAPTER I. 

FORAGE CROPS. 

Forage in its widest sense means any food 
suitable for horses, cattle, sheep and swine. Thus 
applied, it would include pasture, soiling and fodder 
crops, and all manner of matured seeds. In the title 
given to this book, however, and in the book itself, 
it will be used only in the more restricted sense of 
pasture crops other than those provided by the vari- 
ous grasses. It is thus used for the reason, first, that 
in the ordinary phraseology of the farm, it is so 
understood. Second, that there is a felt necessity for 
a more restricted and precise use of certain terms in 
agriculture that have heretofore been used in a loose 
sense. And, third, that it would seem to express the 
various subjects considered in the book more accu- 
rately and more concisely than any other term that 
could be chosen. The terms forage crops as thus 
defined, and pastures, are frequently regarded as 
synonymous and interchangeable. But grasses are 
not included in the discussion, for the reason, first, 
that where grazed off they are usually spoken of as 
pasture crops, and, second, that to include them 
would unduly swell the contents of this volume. 

In nearly all instances these forage crops are 
sown from year to year, whereas grass pastures usu- 
ally endure for several years. In many instances the 
latter grow, as it were, spontaneously; the former 
seldom do. Forage crops, like pastures, are fed off 



2 FORAGE CROPS. 

by the animals where they grow, and usually in the 
green form ; but there are instances where both may 
be grazed in the matured form, as in the gleaning of 
ripe peas by swine, or the grazing of buffalo or bunch 
grass by cattle and sheep in the winter. Some of these 
forage crops are grown and grazed off in succession 
the same season, and are also sown as "catch" 
crops, while grasses are never thus sown or grazed. 
And some forage crops, as, for instance, Jerusalem 
artichokes, are gathered from beneath the surface of 
the ground, w^hereas grass pastures are grazed only 
on the surface. 

Soiling and Fodder Crops not Considered. — 
In this book the question of forage crops only will be 
considered, although excellent reasons may be given 
for including soiling and fodder crops in the discus- 
sion. Soiling food may be defined as food cut or 
pulled and fed to animals in the green form. And 
fodder crops may be defined as food for live stock in 
the matured form, and fed before or after the 
removal of the seeds. Both definitions are 
restricted rather than general, as both terms 
are sometimes used, and, perhaps unfortunately, 
in a wider and more general sense. Among 
the reasons that may be given for including 
these crops in the discussion, are the follow- 
ing: First, forage, soiling and fodder crops each 
includes a large number of the same plants. And, sec- 
ond, the processes of preparing the land for many of 
these and of growing them up to a certain stage are 
exactly the same. Discussing these various classes 
of crops therefore together would avoid no little repe- 
tition, which it would be impossible to avoid when 
discussing them separately. But to this plan there is 



FORAGE CROPS. 3 

the one strong objection, vis., that it would so swell 
the contents of the book as to make it too unwieldy 
for commercial use as a text-book. It would also 
increase unduly the cost of the book to those readers 
who are desirous of obtaining information only with 
reference to one phase of this three-fold question. 

Possible Exception to Definitions. — Agricultural 
literature is only in what may be termed the 
formative stage. And more especially is this 
true of agricultural text-books. Exception may 
be taken, therefore, by those critically inclined 
to almost any definition that may be given of 
forage crops, and, indeed, of other classes of 
crops, as, for instance, cereals and field roots. 
In formulating definitions in agriculture, no bet- 
ter plan, perhaps, can be followed than to give 
heed to the common understanding regarding the 
meaning and application of the various terms in use. 
But this common understanding is not an absolutely 
safe guide, since it differs sometimes in communities 
in regard to the use of a certain term, and often it 
differs even in the same community. Some time must 
elapse, therefore, before definitions in agriculture 
will so crystallize as to assume a form so definite and 
abiding that it will meet with universal acceptance. 

A Greatly Important Question. — The growing 
of forage crops is to-day what may be termed a burn- 
ing question, and it is likely to become more and more 
so with the passing of the years. Some time, and in 
the future that is near, forage crops other than 
grasses will be grown from sea to sea, but, of course, 
not equally in all parts of the continent. The excep- 
tions will be the range and mountain districts, which 
forbid a varied agriculture. 



4 FORAGE CROPS. 

But little attention has been given to the grow- 
ing of this class of forage crops in the past, and for 
manifest reasons. The history of our agriculture has 
been largely one of occupancy. Men have taken pos- 
session of the soil and tilled it after the most primi- 
tive fashion. Such, at least, has been its history in 
all the west. While it is true that some progress has 
been made in intensive cultivation in the east, such 
farming has been greatly hampered by the tide of 
agricultural products which has flowed eastward in 
great volume from the cheap and fertile lands of the 
Mississippi basin. On every hand, however, there 
are indications of change. The unoccupied tillable 
domain is only a fraction of what it was. And this 
means that the great grazing lands of the tillable 
prairies are only a fraction of what they once were. 
There is no further west. Populations are increasing 
at a very rapid rate, and, therefore, a more intensive 
cultivation will soon become a necessity in all parts 
of the continent. And with the increase of intensive 
cultivation, as surely as the sun goes down in the 
evening, increased attention will be given to the 
growing of these forage crops, some of the reasons 
for which will be stated below. 

JVJiy Forage Crops Should be Grozmi. — Forage 
crops, other than grasses and clovers, should be 
grown because of the many benefits which they bring 
to those who grow them. Chief among these are the 
following : First, they may be made to supplement 
pasture crops that are more permanent, that is to say, 
perennial in character, when the area of these is insuf- 
ficient, or when from any cause or causes theymayfail 
to produce plentifully. Second, many of them may be 
grown as catch crops where other crops have failed 



FORAGE CROPS. 5 

to grow, hence the use of the land for the season is 
not lost. Third, by growing these crops the farmer 
is enabled proportionately to increase the live stock 
of his farm, and, in consequence, proportionately to 
increase its producing power. Fourth, such a system 
exercises a salutary influence on weed eradication, 
because of the frequency with which the ground is 
plowed and otherwise disturbed, and because the 
weeds which grow in the forage are usually eaten 
down before they mature their seeds. Fifth, it 
enables the farmer to provide succulent pasture for 
animals at certain seasons of the year, when ordi- 
narily it could not be obtained in any other way. And, 
sixth, it provides vegetation that may be plowed 
under with great benefit to the land, when,* because 
of its abundance, it has been only partially consumed 
while being grazed. 

Who Should Grow Forage Crops. — All farmers 
on small or moderately sized holdings who keep live 
stock should also grow forage crops in addition to 
their grass pastures, since they so much reduce the 
area required for the latter. But those stock grow- 
ers who live on large holdings, and more especially 
those of them whose tillable lands are in climates 
where the rainfall is oftentimes less than could be 
desired, should also grow them. In these areas the 
yields from grass pastures are frequently small, very 
much less than can be obtained from crops sown 
expressly to provide pasture for a single season or but 
a part of a season. As a rule, therefore, the neces- 
sity for growing these crops will increase with the 
less favorable conditions for growing grass pastures, 
and vice versa. Those crops can, however, be more 
profitably grown to furnish grazing for sheep and 



6 FORAGE CROPS. 

swine than to furnish the same for cattle anc' horses, 
since the tramping of the latter, while grazing, leads 
to a greater percentage of waste in the pasture. 
Nevertheless, s(~>me of these pasture crops may be 
grown with great advantage by dairymen, more 
especially in the prairie country west of the 
Mississippi. 

The Possible Outcome. — When farmers gener- 
ally who live upon arable lands give that attention to 
the growing of this class of forage crops which they 
ought to, from the standpoint of self-interest, no 
limit can be set to the possible increase in live stock 
and live stock products. More especially will this be 
true when they give that attention also to the grow- 
ing of soiling and fodder crops which their impor- 
tance demands. In those encouraging days that are 
drawing near, the production in these lines that will 
be obtained from small areas would astonish many 
of the farmers of to-day. And the increase will no 
less apply to the quantity than to the quality of the 
product, because of the suitable character of the food 
furnished, because of its seasonableness and because 
of its abundance. When nearly one hundred sheep 
can be pastured from the closing days of April to the 
opening days of November on ten acres of such 
forage, as was done in 1897 at the Minnesota Uni- 
versity experiment farm, the possibilities in live stock 
production in our republic light up with a peculiar 
brightness. When it is remembered that the soil was 
sandy, that the subsoil was sand or gravel or a mix- 
ture of the two, that the land had been but feebly 
fertilized, the brightness grows more radiant. And 
when it is called to mind that 10.33 tons of cured 
fodder and 10.39 ^^^s of soiling food were also taken 



FORAGE CROPS. / 

from the same ten acres during the growing period 
of the year mentioned, and that much unused forage 
was plowed under as green manure, the firmament 
of possible production becomes all ablaze with prom- 
ise. The first to look at those happy indications will 
probably be the first to engage in growing forage 
crops. 

Plants Discussed. — The plants discussed in the 
l)ook include those which can be grown for forage 
in any part of the tillable areas of the United States 
and Canada, grasses/excepted. Some varieties, how- 
ever, but little known, or of only local value, are 
doubtless not included. The attempt has been made 
to classify or group them in the hope of rendering 
the discussion more simple and concise. But in the 
absence of a guide, it is possible that some exception 
may be taken to the classification adopted. It is 
based largely on family relationships and, to some 
extent, on similarity of treatment required in grow- 
ing them. 

In discussing the various plants considered, it 
has been the aim to give them space in the order of 
their relative importance. But it was not in all 
instances found practicable to do so, and for the 
reason that the relative importance of several of 
these plants has not yet been determined. Experi- 
ence in growing them has also been so limited that 
some time must yet elapse before such experience will 
be forthcoming. In the judgment of the writer, a 
great future awaits the growing of vetches for 
forage and soiling food in our country, but at the 
present time the growth of these crops is greatly 
circumscribed. Their adaptation, therefore, to cer- 
tain localities is, in the meantime, a matter of con- 



8 FORAGE CROPS. 

jecture rather than one of fact. And the same may 
be said of certain other crops. 

In addition to the various plants that are discussed 
in the book, a chapter is written on succession in 
forage crops, and also one on sheep pastures at the 
Minnesota University experiment farm. In the 
latter an exemplification is given of what is advo- 
cated in the book. 



CHAPTER II. 

INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 

Indian corn (Zea Mays) is one of the greatest 
•food plants that was ever bestowed on any country. 
It is indigenous to this continent, and can be grown, 
in one or the other of its forms, in nearly all parts of 
the continent capable of maturing cereals. There is 
probably no other plant at the present time that pro- 
duces more food for man and beast, and that is sus- 
ceptible of being grown under so great a variety of 
conditions. 

Corn is of many varieties. They run up mto 
the hundreds, and the number of varieties is sure to 
be increased. It is well that it is so, for in this way 
new kinds can be produced with special adaptation 
to the needs of the respective regions in which they 
are to be grown. While new varieties are thus being 
evolved, established varieties are continually being 
introduced into sections where they had not been 
grown hitherto, and in these sections they are being 
acclimatized ; hence we can confidently hope that in 
the near future almost every part of America that 
can mature grain crops will be possessed of those 
varieties of corn best adapted to its needs. 

Corn varies exceedingly in its habits of growth. 
Some kinds grow only to the hight of a few inches 
from the ground. Other varieties grow to the 
hight of twelve feet and more. Some varieties pro- 
duce only one stalk and but one or two ears. Other 

9 



lO FORAGE CROPS. 

kinds produce several stalks and bear a number of 
ears. Some kinds produce but few leaves and much 
grain, other varieties grow many leaves and but little 
grain. Some are sweet, others much less so. Some 
are flint and some are dent, and others are hybrid, as 
it were, between these. Some kinds mature under 
ninety days, other varieties require many months to 
complete their growth. Various other distinctions 
appertain to the multi-form varieties of this food 
product. Verily, their name is legion. 

At one time corn was grown chiefly for the 
grain product, but it is now grown more and more 
to provide soiling food and fodder. It is not improb- 
able that, ere many years shall pass, the area of corn 
fed green and in the cured form unhusked, will much 
exceed the area that will be husked. Notwithstand- 
ing the rapid increase in the growing of corn for soil- 
ing, for ensilage and for fodder to be fed in the 
autumn and winter, the idea of growing corn for 
pasture does not seem to have made an impression 
on the mind of the corn growers of this country. 
When the author sought information on this point, 
in 1894, prior to taking up the work of experiment- 
ing in growing corn for sheep pasture, none could be 
found. It may be that the search was too narrow 
and restricted, but the fact stated will make it clear 
that at that time information on the point at issue 
was not plentiful. It is of this particular feature of 
corn production that the present chapter will treat. 
A view of sheep pasturing on first growth of corn 
and rape at the Minnesota University experiment 
farm is seen in Fig. 2. 

While it is more than proba1)le that corn will 
never become generally popular as a pasture for 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 



II 




12 FORAGE CROPS. 

other classes of domestic animals than sheep, never- 
theless there are circumstances under which it may 
be fittingly grown to furnish grazing for cattle. In 
the upper Mississippi basin and the country lying 
still further north, grasses are much prone to lose 
their succulence in the early summer, and frequently 
they do not regain it again the same year. In these 
areas much wheat is grown from year to year on the 
same land. As a result, the lands become foul, and 
must be occasionally summer fallowed to clean them. 
It is while summer fallowing the land that corn may 
be thus grown to provide pasture for cattle or horses 
not at work. While the cattle are grazing the corn 
much of it will be broken down and fouled, so as to 
be unfit for food. Notwithstanding, much pasture 
relatively can be thus furnished per acre. And when 
the plow immediately follows the grazing, as it ought 
to, the uneaten portion of the corn plowed under will 
very materially increase the power of the land to hold 
moisture during the years following. The land will 
thus be cleaned and supplied with humus in the one 
season, and much pasture will have been secured at 
no added cost, other than that of the seed. This 
method of growing corn forage is applicable to all 
lands that are to be summer fallowed, wherever they 
may be located. 

But it is in providing pasture for sheep that the 
best results are obtained from growing corn forage. 
At the Minnesota University experiment station the 
tests that have been made thus far in growing corn, 
alone or in combination with other forage plants, to 
provide food for sheep, have been decidedly encour- 
aging. Further reference will be made to these experi- 
ments in the closing chapter. The waste in pasturing 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 1 3 

corn with sheep is very Httle, as compared with the 
waste in pasturing it with cattle. And, in providing 
pasture for this class of live stock, it may be success- 
fully grown wherever sheep are kept in the arable 
portions of the United States and Canada. 

The greatest obstacle in the way of growing 
corn for pasture lies in the cost of the seed, which in 
some seasons is a considerable item. But this cost is 
offset in the abundance of the pasture furnished, and 
in its timeliness. 

Distribution. — Corn can be grown successfully 
for forage in any part of the United States that is 
susceptible of cultivation. As would naturally be 
expected, some sections are much more favorable 
than others to its production ; but there is no state in 
the Union in which at least one crop of pasture can- 
not be grown every season, and in some of the states 
two or more crops can be grown in succession. The 
states included in what is known as the corn belt have 
a most decided advantage in growing corn for the 
grain product; but in growing it as forage, the 
advantage is materially lessened. Since a corn crop 
will reach a stage sufficiently advanced for being pas- 
tured off in from six to ten weeks from the time of 
sowing the seed, according to the weather, the period 
of growth is quite long enough to admit of growing 
a crop of corn forage as far north as Lake Winnipeg. 
Corn wants heat and moisture to produce it quickly, 
and in nearly all the tillable portions of the United 
States and Canada there is enough of both to pro- 
duce a maximum crop of corn that will become suffi- 
ciently advanced for being eaten down before the 
coming of the cool weather of autumn. 

Inland from the oceans, the average heat of the 



14 FORAGE CROPS. 

days during the summer months is not much less 
than the average much further south ; hence corn 
grows almost as quickly at that period in the north- 
ern states as in the states included in the lower 
Mississippi basin. But in the states that lie 
along the northern boundary, the whole season 
of growth is so short that the large and slow- 
maturing varieties of corn cannot always be ripened 
in the areas adjacent to the Canadian border. 
Nor can the ripening of some of the small varieties 
always be depended on. But there is always time 
enough to grow a crop of corn forage, and to pasture 
it off before it is liable to be stricken down by frost. 

In the northern states in proximity to the sea, 
both east and west, the period without frost is longer 
than with the states inland, but the summer heat is 
also less, more especially on the Pacific side of the 
continent ; hence the growth of the corn is much 
slower. It is not improbable that corn sown at the 
proper season at Duluth, would be as far advanced 
in six to eight weeks from the time of planting as the 
same kind of corn would be at Puget Sound in ten to 
twelve weeks from the time of planting. 

At St. Paul, Minn., there is ample time to grow 
two crops of corn to provide forage in succession on 
the same land in the average season. In the Gulf 
states, therefore, there should be ample time to grow 
as many more crops in succession within the year, 
providing ample moisture is present. Hence, in this 
way in the ''sunny south" a very large quantity of 
corn forage could be obtained in one season from a 
piece of land. 

In portions of the semi-arid region adjacent to 
the Rocky uKumtains on the eastern side, corn forage 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 1 5 

can assuredly be grown and turned to good account. 
The reference here is to much of the tillable land in 
the region named that cannot be suppHed with irri- 
gating waters. Some moisture is precipitated on 
these lands every winter and spring. Now, if the 
land has been plowed in the autumn previously, and 
if pains is taken to so stir the surface of the ground 
m the early spring that the ground moisture will not 
escape by evaporation until the season has come for 
corn planting, the moisture thus retained in the soil 
is likely to grow a good crop of corn forage. If not 
eaten off when grown, it will cure on the ground 
when the moisture fails; but still it will provide 
much food. 

Place in the Rotation. — Corn for forage may be 
given any place in the rotation. First, it may with 
propriety be made to follow a cereal crop that has 
been grown on foul land which requires to be 
cleaned. Or, second, it may follow a hay or pasture 
crop when the presence of vegetable matter in the 
soil is an important consideration. Or, third, it may 
with peculiar fitness be grown as a catch crop. When 
grown as a catch crop, it may come after rye that has 
just been pastured off ; after any kind of spring grain 
that may have failed to grow ; after a stand of grass 
pastured off early, but that is not good enough to 
retain ; after winter oats, or crimson clover that has 
been eaten down or harvested ; or, where the season 
is long enough, it may follow rape eaten down. There 
may also be instances when it would be prudent to 
sow corn again, although the principle of thus grow- 
ing two crops upon the same land in succession is 
not a good one. And it may, with much propriety, 
be sown on the bare fallow. 



1 6 FORAGE CROPS. 

The crops that shc^itld immediately follow corn 
sown for pasture will depend somewhat on the fact 
as to whether other plants have been grown with the 
corn and, to some extent, on the character of the 
plants so grown. When the corn is sown alone, it 
may fitly be followed the same season with winter 
rye and rape to furnish fall pasture, or with crimson 
clover or winter wheat, according to the locality. But 
it will not avail to sow these crops unless there is 
sufficient moisture in the soil to sprout the seed. A 
crop of corn growing thickly, as for pasture, is 
mighty to pump water out of the soil. When sown 
with such crops as rape, cowpeas or vetches, these 
crops will furnish more or less pasture after the corn 
has been eaten down. The amount of the pasture 
thus furnished will, of course, be largely dependent 
upon the amount of moisture that falls late in the 
season. The natural order the next year will be a 
grain crop where some cro]) has not l)een sown after 
the corn that is to live through the winter. 

Soil. — The soil best suited to growing corn for 
pasture will be much the same as that best suited to 
growing corn for other uses, that is to say, it will be 
a deep, rich, mild, moist, friable loam. If well sup- 
plied with humus, the condition will be further 
improved. The decaying humus furnishes readily 
available plant food and also much increases the 
power of the soil to hold moisture. Stiff clay soils 
may be made to produce strong crops of corn when 
the season is favorable and when the plants get a 
good start, but it is usually at an expenditure of 
much labor in preparing the land. Moreover, the 
corn grows slowly on these, and in a dry season it is 
not likely to prove a success. Light, sandy soils are 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 1 7 

not good, unless they have been artificially enriched. 
The same is true of gravelly soils low in fertility, and 
when these poor soils lie on a subsoil of sand or 
gravel, the condition is still less hopeful. And, if it 
should become dry, it is still further aggravated. 
Peat soils are not good in a dry season. Muck soils 
are excellent when moist, and the same is true of the 
average dark colored soils of the prairie and of the 
gray soils of the Rocky mountain region. Hardpan 
subsoils that come near the surface are not good. 
They prevent the corn roots from getting down into 
the soil, and corn naturally ransacks the soil for food, 
both near the surface and down from it. Subsoils in 
which- the water table lies quite near the surface are 
not good, since they hinder the downward course of 
the roots; nor will corn grow in saturated surface 
soils. Mild clay subsoils are considered the best, 
since the moisture does not filter too quickly through 
them, and the roots of the corn can easily penetrate 
into them in search of food. 

Preparing the Soil. — When preparing the soil 
for corn that is to be sown for pasture, the aim should 
be to secure a deep, firm, finely pulverized, moist and 
clean seed bed. Sometimes, as, for instance, when 
the ground is plowed the autumn previously, all these 
conditions can be secured. At other times some of 
them only can be reached, owing to the too limited 
period for giving it the necessary cultivation. When 
the ground is plowed in the autumn, the plowing 
should be deep. It should be deep to enable the 
young roots and rootlets of the corn to penetrate it 
easily during the earlier stages of growth and to give 
the soil power to retain more moisture near the sur- 
face. And the aim should be to plow it in the fall, 

2 



1 8 FORAGE CROPS. 

that time may be given for the upturned soil to 
become warmer than it would be if spring plowed, 
through the influence of the sun shining on it and of 
the warm rain penetrating it. Second, to give time 
for weathering influences, as that of frost, to operate 
upon it, so tliat inert fertility will be unlocked and 
made available. Third, that the seed bed w^ill be 
given time to regain its former density. And, fourth, 
that ample time may be given to sprout the weeds on 
the surface before sowing the corn. This can be 
done by running the harrow or cultivator over the 
surface of the soil as soon as the ground is dry, and 
by using the harrow again and again on the same 
soil as often as the weeds have sprouted in consid- 
erable numbers. It is very important that this shall 
be done even on fallow land that is to be sown with 
corn. In addition to the cleaning of the land, the 
soil moisture will be retained in it. But in some 
localities, especially those in wdiich the soils are essen- 
tially clay, and where the winters are mild and rainy, 
it may be unwise to plow the land in the fall, lest it 
assume an impacted and clammy condition that 
would seriously interfere with and hinder the opera- 
tions of tillage. Under these conditions the land 
should be plowed as early as possible in the spring 
and subsequently managed like fall plowed land up 
to the time of sowing the corn. 

When the corn is to follow rye or crimson clover 
or winter oats, or any other crop that has been grazed 
off in the spring, or grain that has been sown and 
failed to make a stand, the depth of the plowing 
should be regulated by the composition of the soil, 
its present condition as to moisture, and the general 
character of the climate. The more clay the soil con- 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. IQ 

tains, so long- as it may be classed as a loam and not 
a clay soil, the moister its condition. The more 
humid the climate and the more frequent the show- 
ers, the more deeply may the land be plowed, and 
vice versa. 

When light and springy soils are plowed deeply 
in the spring, they lie so loosely upon themselves that 
there is much loss by surface evaporation. The same 
is true of these soils, but in a less degree, when they 
are plowed shallow in the spring. And the drier the 
climate, the more aggravated does this condition 
become. As soon, therefore, as such lands are 
plowed in the spring, they should be at once rolled. 
The aim should be to roll them the same day that the 
plowing is done. The pressure of the roller lessens 
the surface evaporation. But the rolled surface 
should ere long be followed by the harrow, to hinder 
the soil from lifting with the wind, as it does in cer- 
tain sections of the prairie, and to create a more per- 
fect dust blanket, that will hinder the escape of 
ground moisture. Cloddy surfaces should be made 
fine by the use of the roller and harrow. 

The best time for applying fertilizers will be 
dependent upon conditions, as, for instance, the sea- 
son of the year at which the plowing is done. When 
the land is plowed in the fall, farmyard manure 
should then also be applied, when on hand. It should 
be plowed under, except in leechy soils, and where 
the rainfall is heavy in winter. On such soils it 
should be applied on the surface, and in the com- 
posted or reduced form when spread on fall plowed 
soil. It may then be incorporated with the soil in the 
spring by the aid of the disc or some other form of 
cultivator. When the land is spring plowed, the 



20 FORAGE CROPS. 

manure may be spread in the winter or at such other 
time as may be convenient, up to the season when 
tlie land is to be plowed. When moisture is abun- 
dant, fresh manure may be applied, providing it is 
buried to a sufficient depth and with sufficient care to 
prevent it from interfering with the proper sowing 
of the seed. But in dry climates, fresh and long 
manure should not be thus buried in the spring, lest 
it should keep the land so open and loose that the 
manure will not decay. 

Potash as a commercial fertilizer may be applied 
any time previous to the sowing of the crop, phos- 
phoric acid shortly before or when the crop is sown, 
and nitrogen when the crop is sown or subsequently, 
but before the plants have reached an advanced stage 
of growth. The first may be incorporated with the 
soil as may be convenient. The second should be 
incorporated with the surface soil, and the third 
should be similarly incorporated, or, what would be 
preferable, sown upon the surface. 

Sozuing. — The seed should not be sown until 
reasonable danger from frost is past, until that sea- 
son has arrixed when fairly warm weather may be 
looked for, or until the ground has become warm. 
A slight frost, however, that only nips off the tops 
of the blades may not work very serious harm. Corn 
for pasture may be sown, if desired, a few days earlier 
than corn grown for other uses. Owing to the thick 
character of the sowing, though a proportion of the 
plants should fail, they will not be seriously missed 
from the crop. And it may be sown far on into the 
summer, according to climatic and other conditions. 

As to the mode of sowing corn for pasture, 
something will depend upon the facilities at hand 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 21 

for sowing it, and something- upon the combination 
of the seeds sown along with it. Sowing it broad- 
cast, however, is to be deprecated, since some of the 
seed will not be covered by the harrow. And if a 
shower of rain should fall soon after the seed is 
sown, much of it would be washed bare, thus increas- 
ing the percentage of the seed that would perish 
from exposure to air and sun. And when the harrow 
was run over the crop subsequent to the sprouting of 
the corn, many of the young plants would be dis- 
turbed in their growth, if not, indeed, killed outright. 
Nevertheless, such harrowing may be done with 
profit when a plentiful supply of seed has been sown. 
The aim should be to plant the seed with the grain 
drill deeply in loose-lying soils, as deeply as three 
inches, and less deeply in heavier loam soils. 

When cowpeas or vetches are planted along 
with the corn, the seed should first be mixed with 
that of the corn. When rape is sown, it may be 
broadcasted before the corn is sown. The drill tubes 
are likely to give it sufficient covering when the corn 
is being planted. Or it may be sown just when the 
first blades of the corn appear, and covered with the 
harrow. The first method is preferable where the 
corn is to be given more than one harrowing. But 
in such instances, the rape seed should be sown 
thickly, to allow for the loss of plants that will result 
from using the harrow. 

The amount of seed to sow will depend upon 
the soil, upon the kind of corn, and upon the other 
kinds of forage sown along with the corn. Soils low 
in fertility should be given a thick seeding to increase 
the sum total of the forage produced. Soils very 
rich should also be sown very thickly, to produce 



22 FORAGE CROPS. 

forage less coarse than would result from thin sow- 
ing. And intermediate quantities of seed should be 
sown on intermediate soils. Varieties of corn with 
a large seed kernel should be sown more thickly than 
those with a small seed kernel. And those kinds that 
are naturally of a leafy habit of growth should be 
sown more thinly than those opposite in character. 
The larger the proportion of other seeds sown 
along with the corn, the less will be the proportion 
of the seed corn required. When corn is sown to 
provide forage without intermixture of other seeds, 
the quantity of seed to be used will range from one 
to three bushels per acre. When sown in combina- 
tion with other forage plants, the proportion of corn 
may be reduced as low, in some instances, as one- 
half bushel per acre. Equal quantities of cowpeas 
and corn sown together would answer well in some 
localities. The proportions of two parts corn and 
one of vetches would answer well in other localities, 
and Dwarf Essex rape seed sown with the corn, or 
with the corn and vetches, at the rate of two and 
three pounds of the seed per acre, should further 
improve the pasture. And when the corn had all 
disappeared, in consequence of the grazing, the other 
plants would, under certain conditions, make a good 
second growth. But the proportion of the seed of 
tlie respective plants used that would best meet the 
requirements of each locality can be fully ascertained 
only by actual test. A field of second growth of 
rape sown with corn is seen in Fig. 3. 

Cidtivai'ion. — When the corn is sown alone, it 
will be greatly benefited by harrowing it judiciously 
at least two or three times from the period of sowing 
the corn and the period when it shall have attained 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 



23 



P^M^^r^r?^ 







2S FORAGE CROPS. 

the hight of four to six inches. By judicious har- 
rowing is meant, using a hght harrow, adjusting the 
teeth to a backward slant that will hinder them from 
cutting too deeply and too erectly, and using it when 
the land is not overmoist. When the harrow teeth 
are used in an erect position, they tear out too much 
of the corn. As soon as the seed has been sown, the 
roller may, in nearly all instances, be made to follow 
the drill with much advantage. It presses the par- 
ticles of soil more closely around the seed, lessens 
the degree of the exposure of the seeds to the light, 
and lessens the drying out of the soil ; hence the 
quick germination of the corn will be greatly facil- 
itated, unless where moisture is abundant. On soils 
that lift with the wind, the harrow should soon 
follow the roller, and in any case the crop should be 
harrowed before the corn has appeared. The other 
harrowings, of course, come later. But when other 
plants are sown with the corn, one harrowing given 
before the plants are up may be all that can be given 
without hazard to the plants. 

Pasturing. — When pasturing corn with cattle or 
with sheep, it should be allowed to make a good 
growth before the animals are turned in to graze it 
' down, as it does not sprout up again. The grazing 
should commence when the plants are from eighteen 
to twenty-four inches high. But where the promise 
of forage is so abundant that the supply is likely to 
be quite beyond the requirements of the live stock 
that are to be grazed upon the corn, the pasturing 
should begin somewhat earlier, unless in instances in 
which the residuum of waste from the pasturing 
should be looked upon as an important factor when 
plowed under for improving the land. Care should 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 2$ 

be taken not to turn the animals in to graze when 
they are hungry, at least at the beginning of the pas- 
turing, on the principle that sudden changes of diet 
are not good. But corn is not so much liable to pro- 
duce bloating as some other kinds of green forage, 
nor should the animals be pastured upon it when it 
is wet, as then they foul the feed and impact the land 
too much with their treading, and in the case of 
sheep the fleeces would become more or less satu- 
rated with water. 

As already intimated, there will be much waste 
from treading by cattle, so much that it would not 
seem profitable to graze them on corn, unless when 
tlie residuum of waste forage to be plowed under just 
after the pasturing, is looked upon as an important 
factor. But when sheep are pastured upon corn, the 
waste is not nearly so great. They do not break 
down nearly so much of the corn as cattle, and much 
of what is broken down they will consume in the 
cured form. 

Ohservations. — The chief strength of corn as a 
forage plant lies, first, in the quickness with which it 
will grow; second, in the large amount of forage 
which it produces; third, in the succession of the 
crops that can be grown the same season ; fourth, in 
the combinations in which it may be grown; and, 
fifth, in its power to grow under dry conditions. Its 
weakness as a forage plant lies, first, in the cost of 
the seed; second, in the fact that it will not grow 
again when grazed off; and, third, in the considera- 
ble proportion of the waste when grazed off by cattle. 

2. — The work of grazing corn as a pasture must 
be regarded as being only in the experimental stage. 
And it would seem to be important that the combina- 



26 FORAGE CROPS. 

tions in which it can best be grown, as adapted to dif- 
ferent locaHties, should be made the subject of care- 
ful experiment in the near future. 

^. — It is at least possible that in the dry regions 
of the northwest, east of the Rocky mountains, some 
small varieties of corn, as, for instance, squaw corn, 
may yet be grown to provide what may be termed 
finishing or fattening food for range sheep grown on 
the adjacent lands. Squaw corn will mature any- 
where within the area named. Although possessed 
of a low, bantam-like habit of growth, it branches 
out considerably, and produces much grain in pro- 
portion to the stalk. It may be best grown on fall 
plowed lands, managed in the spring with a view to 
conserving moisture. It should then be sown with 
the grain drill, care being taken to put the rows not 
so distant as when planting larger varieties of corn, 
and to give the crop proper cultivation. The sheep 
should then be turned in upon it in a prudently cau- 
tious manner at first, to graze it down and to fatten 
upon it before the closing in of the winter. In the 
absence of conclusive tests, judgment should not be 
pronounced hastily as to the value of this theory, for 
in practical agriculture we can never be quite sure of 
the exact value of a reasonable theory until it has 
been fairly tried. But it may be proper to mention 
here, that experiments conducted at the Minnesota 
University experiment farm, but not yet completed, 
have proved decidedly encouraging in character. 

4. — The pasturing of corn stover yet standing 
where it grew, is to be deprecated. Corn stover, as 
is generally known, is cc^rn from which the ears have 
been removed. It is to be deprecated, because of the 
wastefulness of the process. The stover dries so 



INDIAN CORN OR MAIZE. 27 

much after maturity that a great deal of the mitri- 
ment in the stalk is lost before the corn is eaten. 
Because of this overcuring, the palatability of the 
corn is greatly lessened ; hence much of it will not be 
consumed. A large proportion of it becomes broken 
down and fouled, which causes still further waste. 
And the cattle are oftentimes required to graze 
upon it when the weather is unfavorable, hence there 
is a loss from thus exposing the animals. Of course, 
it is better to pasture the corn thus than not to pas- 
ture it at all. But the stover Avould furnish much 
more food if it were harvested and fed to other ani- 
mals as needed. The prodigality of some of the 
western farmers of this country finds a striking illus- 
tration in this wasteful method of handling, or rather 
not handling, corn stover. Each acre of the food, if 
properly utilized, is worth as much as an acre of 
average timothy hay. 



CHAPTER III. 



SORGHUM, 



Sorghum (S. viilgare saccharatum) was intro- 
duced into the United States from China, and also 
from South Africa, more than forty years ago. For 
many years it was grown only for the syrup made 
from its juices. But within the last decade, and even 
for a longer period, considerable attention has been 
given to growing it as a food for live stock in certain 
centers and in various sections of the country. 

It is a wonderful plant. It can be grown to pro- 
vide cane for making syrup in every state in the 
Union. It is one of the best soiling foods that we 
have. It furnishes fodder of an excellent quality for 
live stock, when fed in the autumn and winter, 
more especially the early winter, and it is one of the 
best forage plants that we shall ever have. The seed 
of sorghum can also be turned to good account as 
food for all kinds of domestic animals kept upon the 
farm. But it is as a forage plant that it will be dis- 
cussed at this time. Sorghum grown for fodder is 
seen in Fig. 4. 

Although this plant, as just intimated, has hith- 
erto been grown chiefly for the syrup which could be 
extracted from it, in the near future it is more than 
probable that a much larger area will be grown to 
furnish food for live stock than to furnish syrup. In 
some of the states in the Mississippi basin, on both 
sides of the river, in the Gulf states and in Texas, 

28 



SORGHUM. 



29 



2 



o 

n 

3* 
B 

I ^ 

s ^ 

O 

?^ 
3 » 

— n 

< • 



•a 










30 FORQGE CROPS. 

more or less of it has been grown for years to provide 
forage for cattle and swine ; but, so far as known to 
the author, it has not been grown until recently as 
forage for sheep; and yet there is no other class of 
live stock which are capable of turning sorghum pas- 
ture to better account. During the winter of 1893-4 
the author sought diligently for information as to the 
adaptability of sorghum as a pasture plant for sheep, 
but found none. In not a single instance, by corre- 
spondence or otherwise, was anyone found who could 
give a line of information as to the value of sorghum 
for sheep pasture. Doubtless, there were those who 
had tried it, but the fact just stated will show how 
little was known at that time as to the value of this 
most wonderful forage plant in providing pasture 
for sheep. As an all-round food producing plant 
corn is quite ahead of sorghum, but as a forage plant 
sorghum is quite ahead of corn. It is at least ques- 
tionable if we have a forage plant in the United 
States that is so well adapted for being grown over 
so wide an area. 

Sorghum is pre-eminently a summer pasture. 
Blue grass and various other grasses slumber during 
much of the summer. Medium red clover languishes, 
especially in the south, where midsummer suns wax 
warm. Rape becomes crisp and faded at that season, 
if sown early, unless under exceptionally favorable 
conditions as to moisture. Mammoth clover has 
done its work for the year, and the same is true of 
alsike. These two take a rest after harvest, and as 
a ])asture in the autumn they are like the deceitful 
water brooks that have dried. Then it is that sor- 
ghum is at its best. Being a child of the sun, it strikes 
its roots downward and pushes its leaves upward and 



SORGHUM. 31 

outward through all the hot season, thus furnishing 
an abundance of succulent pasture at a time of 
the year when it cannot so well be obtained from 
any other source. 

There are two distinct classes of sorghum, 
known as the saccharine and the non-saccharine, 
respectively. This classification is based on the pres- 
ence of sugar in considerable quantities in the 
matured cane or on its almost entire absence. The first 
of these only will be discussed in the present chapter. 
Of the saccharine sorghums there are many varieties, 
but for forage uses two of these are more extensively 
grown than the others. These are the Early Amber 
and the Early Orange. The former, with its sub- 
variety, the Minnesota Early Amber, is grown in the 
northern and northwestern states to the almost 
entire exclusion of other varieties. And the latter, 
with what is probably a sub-variety, the Kansas 
Orange, is extensively grown in the south and south- 
west. Folger's Early is also a favorite in growing 
forage, but it also is grown in the southwest and 
south. But in all-round adaptation, it is questionable 
if any of the other varieties excels the Early Amber 
and its sub-variety in the production of forage. The 
Amber varieties are hardy, they furnish an abundance 
of leaves, they have a high sugar content, and they 
mature earlier than most other varieties. 

When sorghum first appears above the surface 
of the ground, it is a tiny plant bearing a close resem- 
blance to foxtail (Setaria glauca), or, as it is some- 
times called, summer grass or pigeon grass. It grows 
slowly at first, and is easily pulled out or injured by 
treading when live stock graze upon it at too early a 
period. But after it has reached the hight of several 



32 FORAGE CROPS. 

inches, it grows very rapidly. When less than a foot 
high, sorghum forage is a mass of leaves, and makes 
a decidedly beautiful appearing forage crop. When 
a foot high or thereabouts, it joints and sends up 
stems or canes with much quickness. In grazing it 
off therefore, especially with sheep, it is important 
that it is eaten down before the crop has reached the 
stage when it is common to begin to cut it for soiling, 
that is to say, while it is not yet more than from one 
to two feet high. When grazed down, it at once 
springs up again. The pasture is likely to be thicker 
in the second growth than it was in the first, 
because ^of the increased number of sprouts that 
spring from the root. 

Sorghum has much power to w^ithstand dry 
weather, when once it has become established. It 
will grow under certain conditions where corn would 
curl in the leaf and shrivel from want of moisture. 
In its power to grow under dry conditions it will 
rival Kaffir corn, and when the crop has become so 
imperiled through long continued drouth that it 
shows signs of languishing, it has much powder to 
revive again when rain falls. 

As a forage plant it is not usually grown in cul- 
tivation with other forage plants, and for the reason, 
first, that when sown thickly it fully occupies the 
g-round, and, second, that it at once begins to grow 
again w^hen eaten down, thus rendering it unneces- 
sary to sow a crop along with the sorghum to furnish 
forage after the latter has been grazed off. But 
some forage plants may be sown along with it to pro- 
vide a variety in the pasture. These will be referred 
to again. 

Distribution. — There is probably no plant 



SORGHUM. 33 

grown on this continent that has a wider range of 
distribution than sorghum. It can be grown for 
forage with much success in nearly all parts of the 
United States where the land can be tilled. And in 
no part of the Union where crops are grown can it be 
said to be a decided failure. It can also be grown 
with more or less of success in every portion of 
Canada that has been disturbed with the plowshare. 

Notwithstanding this wide range of adaptation, 
there are certain areas where its mission as a forage 
crop will be vastly more important than in other 
areas. The areas which will be most benefited by 
growing sorghum are those in which the summer 
temperature is warm, where the rainfall is fitful 
and insufficient, and where the winters are mild 
enough and sufficiently dry to admit of feeding sor- 
ghum out of doors, or of grazing it off where it grew. 
And the areas that will profit the least by its growth 
are those with much moisture and comparatively low 
summer temperatures. Moisture is of course not 
antagonistic to the growth of sorghum. On the 
contrary, it is favorable, but where the mean tem- 
perature in summer is low the sorghum grows too 
slowly. And cool and moist climates are so well 
adapted to the abundant production of grasses and 
certain other forage plants that in these sorghum 
pasture is much less needed. 

The states therefore that are likely to profit 
most by the growth of sorghum for forage are those 
that lie on the border of the semi-range country to 
the west, as, for instance, South Dakota, Nebraska, 
Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. And those that will 
profit least by its growth are those parts of Wash- 
ington and Oregon that lie west of the Cascades. 

3 



34 FORAGE CROPS. 

A wonderful field lies open for the growth of 
sorghum in all the states which border on the 
Mississippi and Ohio rivers, and also in the 
lower Atlantic and Gulf states. In New Eng- 
land and the adjacent states it will also be freely 
grown. But in the Rocky mountain states, although 
it has a mission, it is less important than that of their 
great forage plant, alfalfa. The best adaptation for 
sorghum pasture in Canada is found in southern 
Ontario, but it will also grow well in other sections. 
And the least adaptation probably will be found for 
it in British Columbia. 

Place in the Rotation. — The place given to sor- 
ghum in the rotation will be much the same as that 
given to corn ; hence nearly all that was said of corn 
under this head will equally apply to sorghum. (See 
Page 15.) Like corn, it may fitly be made to come 
after a cereal crop when the land is foul, after winter 
rye, winter oats, rape or crimson clover, when one 
or the other of these has been pastured off; or, in 
southern latitudes, after a crop of early matured mar- 
ket products. Figure 5 shows a crop of sorghum and 
rape, the third crop grown on the land for the season, 
and Figure 6 a crop of sorghum and rye. The 
order in these crops was, rye, sorghum, sorghum 
and rape. It may also be sown as a catch crop on 
lands that are being summer fallowed. Sorghum 
l)asture should in a sense be made a cleaning crop ; 
hence it may best be followed in the regular rotation 
with some cereal. But when a succession of forage 
plants is wanted in the rotation, sorghum may be 
followed with winter rye, or winter oats. 

Soil. — The soils that are best suited to the 
growth of corn are also those that are, in the main, 



SORGHUM. 



35 



3 
w 



o 

n 

I "^ 

I C 
=5 2 

Si 5 

n 



X 




36 FORAGE CROPS. 

best suited to the growth of sorghum. (See Page 16.) 
But as sorghum has greater power than corn to 
gather food from the soil, it is not so necessary to 
have it in a high state of fertihty. And yet it is true 
of sorghum, as of corn, that the return in the crop 
win usuahy be proportionate to the richness of the 
land. This is particularly true of sorghum forage. 
But it is not so essential in growing sorghum that 
the land shall be well stored with nitrogen as that it 
shall be well stored with phosphoric acid and potash. 
The idea has obtained currency that, because several 
crops of sorghum have been grown successively on 
the same land in certain instances, that sorghum is 
not hard on land. That simply proves that these 
soils possess a wonderful adaptation for growing 
sorghum. To say that any crop which produces 
grain, other than a legume, is not hard on land is 
simply absurd. But since sorghum feeds more deeply 
than corn and, moreover, since it has greater power 
to gather food in the soil and subsoil, good crops of 
sorghum may be grown on land too low in fertility 
to produce good crops of corn. The best soils for 
sorghum are free-working, moist, sandy loams 
underlaid with a mild porous clay subsoil, rich in the 
elements of phosphoric acid and potash. Humus 
soils are good, but not so good relatively as for corn. 
Hard clays lying on harder subsoils are quite unfit 
for growing sorghum. This plant will also grow on 
soils possessed of more or less of alkali. But,beyond 
a certain degree, the presence of this element would 
be fatal to its growth. 

Preparing the Soil. — It is even more important 
with sorghum than with corn that it shall be sown on 
land thoroughly pulverized and with moisture com- 



SORGHUM. 



Z7 




38 FORAGE CROPS. 

ing Up near to the surface, since sorghum plants 
are more deHcate when young than corn plants. In 
order to clean the land, therefore, it is essential, first, 
that it shall be plowed in the fall or in the early 
spring, and, second, that it shall be occasionally 
stirred on the surface with harrow or cultivator from 
the opening of spring until the sowing of the seed. 
It is evident, therefore, that the longer the period 
between the dawn of spring and the sowing of the 
seed, the better is the opportunity given to clean the 
land. And that this process may be secured in a 
more complete degree, it may be a wise plan to defer 
sowing the sorghum for a w^eek or two or even for a 
longer period. 

But when sorghum is to follow a crop of forage, 
as, for instance, winter rye, crimson clover or winter 
vetches, there w^ill not be sufficient time to clean the 
land in best form before the sowing of the sorghum 
seed. And here, also, it may be wise in some 
instances to defer sowing the sorghum immediately, 
that opportunity may be thus given to secure a more 
perfect degree of cleanness in the land. But the 
seasons are in many places too short to admit of so 
doing, and in many other places they are too dry. In 
any event, as soon as the land has been plowed after 
one of these pasture crops, it should be at once rolled, 
to keep in the moisture. And before the seed is 
sown the pulverization of the soil should be thor- 
ough. Too much care cannot be taken when prepar- 
ing a seed bed for sorghum. 

Substantially the same manures and fertilizers 
may be supplied for sorghum as for corn, and by the 
same methods. (See Page 19.) As previously inti- 
mated, nitrogenous fertilizers are not so essential for 
sorghum as for corn. 



SORGHUM. 39 

Solving. — Sorghum should not be sown until 
the weather has become decidedly warm. No good 
can result from sowing it sooner, e\^en though the 
seed should germinate. It will not make any marked 
advance in growth until the arrival of settled warm 
weather, and if kept practically standing still after 
it has sprouted, it would seem to lose much of its 
natural power to grow on the return of weather 
, favorable to its progress. Sorghum sown late, under 
favorable conditions as to growth, will produce more 
and better forage, and at an earlier period, than sor- 
ghum sown several weeks earlier, but which has been 
severely checked in its growth by weather unduly 
cool. This has been demonstrated more than once 
in the experience of the author. 

Of course, no date can be fixed upon for sowing 
sorghum that would be equally applicable to all parts 
of the country. Nor would it be applicable to sec- 
tions on the same parallel of latitude. The mean tem- 
perature, as is well known, differs widely with a dif- 
ference in altitude and a difference of distance from 
large bodies of water. No better rule probably can 
be given for sowing sorghum than that which would 
invariably delay sowing until toward the close of the 
corn-planting season. And where there is moisture 
enough to produce a crop of forage the sowing may 
be continued in warm or mild latitudes until within 
eight to ten weeks of the arrival of frost. Frost will 
injure sorghum more readily than corn, hence the 
aim should be to delay sowing until the spring frosts 
have, disappeared, and to have the crop eaten off by 
the time that the autumn frosts arrive. 

Sorghum is frequently sown broadcast to pro- 
vide soiling food and also winter fodder. But this 



40 FORAGE CROPS. 

mode of sowing* it, as compared with drill sowing, 
not only calls for more seed, but is attended with 
greater hazard. It calls for more seed because of the 
imperfect covering given to the same by the harrow. 
In dry, hot weather that portion of the seed lying 
near the surface will not germinate, even though the 
ground should be moist below. And when the crop 
is harrowed, more plants will be torn out by the har- 
row than if the seed had been sown with the drill. 
The hazard is also greater for the reason that, if dry 
weather should follow the season of germination, the 
plants that have rooted nearest the surface will be 
the first to suffer. But in the absence of a seed drill 
it may be thus sown with the expectation that ordi- 
narily many of the seeds will fail to produce plants, 
hence much seed ought to be sown. 

There is no better mode of sowing it than with 
the grain drill. When thus sown, ordinarily all the 
tubes should plant seed. But in areas where moisture 
is wont to be scant, every alternate tube only should 
be in use. The seed should not be covered deeply, 
never more deeply than one and one-half to two 
inches, as in the black humus soils of the prairie, and 
less deeply in soils of heavier texture. When sown 
late in the season and the weather has turned dry, it 
may also be well to close up some of the drill tubes, 
lest there should be too many plants for the moisture. 
The number of these can, of course, be reduced by 
running over the crop with the harrow, with no other 
cost than that of harrowing, and no other waste than 
that of a portion of the seed. This mode of sowing 
the sorghum would be especially applicable to semi- 
arid regions, where the rainfall in summer is unreli- 
able and ordinarily insufificient to perfect a crop. The 



SORGHUM. 41 

plants will not then rob each other of moisture so 
readily because of their greater distance from one 
another. 

The quantity of seed to use will depend upon the 
mode of sowing, the extent of the harrowing that is 
to follow, and the other seeds along with which the 
sorghum is sown. When broadcasted, from one 
bushel to one and one-half bushels of seed are sown 
per acre. When sown with the drill, the writer has 
found three pecks of seed per acre quite sufficient. 
But if the sorghum is to be harrowed more fre- 
quently than once after the heads of the young plants 
begin to show above ground, more than the amount 
stated should be sown. If the sorghum is sown along 
with rape seed, the proportion of the sorghum should 
be reduced. From two to three pounds per acre of 
the rape seed should suffice. By mixing in the rape 
seed with the sorghum seed occasionally during the 
sowing process, the seeds of both may be deposited 
simultaneously by the drill tubes. The rape seed 
ma}^ also be sown before the drill tubes in instances 
where the action of the latter would cover the rape 
seed sufficiently while the sorghum was being sown. 
The rape seed may in other instances be sown broad- 
cast and covered lightly with the harrow at the time 
of sowing the sorghum seed, or when the first subse- 
quent harrowing is being gi\'en to the crop. When 
sown with millet or cowpeas, the seeds may be mixed 
and drilled in at the same time. But on some soils 
the cowpeas ought to be covered more deeply than 
the sorghum. In such instances the cowpeas would 
have to be sown first and then the sorghum, at a less 
depth. WHien other seeds are added to that of the 
sorghum, this should be proportionately reduced. 



42 FORAGE CROPS. 

Usually, but not always, the roller should follow 
closely upon the sowing of the sorghum. 

Cultivation. — Ordinarily no other cultivation is 
given to sorghum sown for pasture than that of har- 
rowing it once or oftener after it has sprouted. But 
if planted in rows sufficiently distant from one 
another to admit of using the cultivator, then it may 
be cultivated several times at proper intervals, in 
addition to the harrowing that may be given with 
much benefit just as the first blades of the sorghum 
begin to show above ground. But it is seldom neces- 
sary thus to sow the sorghum to furnish pasture. 

When the first harrowing is given to the sor- 
ghum, it is important that the harrow shall be light 
and that when used the teeth are placed as far as 
possible at a backward slant. The harrow simply 
stirs the surface of the land without cutting" d(nvn 
amid the roots of the young plants. Myriads of 
weeds are at the same time destroyed as they are 
springing into life near the surface of the soil. 

Just how mucli harrowing sorghum will stand 
without harm, and just when it ought to be given, 
does not appear to have been made the subject of any 
careful experiments, the results of which have been 
published. It would seem probable, however, that 
unless an excess of seed has been sown, if a second 
harrowing is given, it should not De given until after 
the plants have made a growth of, say, five to seven 
inches. They will have then become more firmly 
rooted, hence the harrow will not so readily pull them 
out as if tlie liarrowing had ])een given at an earlier 
period. Tn sections where the supply of moisture is 
insufficient or barely sufficient to produce a crop, the 
loss of plants up to a certain limit would do no harm. 



SORGHUM. 43 

Pasturing. — Sorghum furnishes excellent pas- 
ture for horses and mules not at work, for all kinds 
of cattle and for sheep and swine. As it grows up 
again when eaten down, it is not necessary that it 
shall be so far advanced as corn before the pasturing 
begins. When the area of the sorghum pasture is 
large in proportion to the stock to be pastured on it, 
then pasturing should begin early, and vice versa. 
But in no case should it be eaten down until it has 
made a growth of several inches from the ground, 
as when young and tender it is easily injured by live 
stock feeding upon it. At the Minnesota University 
experiment station good results have been obtained 
from turning sheep in upon the sorghum when it had 
reached the hight of about fifteen to eighteen inches, 
as shown in Fig. 6. But with the exception of a por- 
tion of the stem, sheep will graze it down when it is 
much higher than fifteen to eighteen inches. Cattle 
will, of course, break down and waste much more 
than sheep. Swine may be grazed upon it as early as 
sheep. But it is when sorghum approaches maturity 
and subsequently that swine would seem to be most 
benefited by pasturing upon it. They chew the 
stem and extract the nutriment from it without swal- 
lowing much of the stem. 

All things considered, however, sorghum pas- 
ture is more valuable relatively for sheep than for any 
other kind of live stock. And to get the best results 
from sorghum pasture, the sheep should not be 
allowed to graze it off too closely. It will grow 
again, though grazed closely, but the growth will be 
slower and less vigorous than if the pasturing had 
not been so close. Stripping off all the leaves would 
seem to detract somewhat from the inherent vigor 



44 



FORAGE CROPS. 






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SORGHUM. 45 

of the plant. When sorghum is grazed by sheep, 
more pasture will be obtained if the ground thus 
grazed can be divided into two or three sections and 
if the sheep are grazed on these alternately. Sor- 
ghum may thus be pastured off two or three or four 
times in a season, according to conditions of soil and 
climate. 

Sometimes sorghum is grown, as described 
sbove, to produce soiling food, and when one cutting- 
has been taken from it, the next or second growth is 
pastured off. A very large amount of forage may 
thus be obtained when all the conditions are 
favorable. 

. The aim should be to have sorghum grazed off 
before the arrival of killing frosts. It is easily injured 
by the frost, and when so injured live stock do not 
relish it. They will eat it under pressure, but do not 
seem fond of it. 

The claim has been made that there is considera- 
ble hazard to animals, especially cattle, when pas- 
tured on second growth sorghum. At the Minne- 
sota experiment station we have not found it so dur- 
ing three successive seasons of pasturing, beginning 
with 1895. But our experience relates only to pas- 
turing with sheep. A view of sheep pasturing on 
second growth sorghum is presented in Fig. 8. The 
first season some fifty-three animals, young and old, 
were pastured on the sorghum, the second year an 
average of eighty-six head, and the third year an 
average of ninety-three head. But one animal, a 
lamb, was lost while feeding on the sorghum, and 
the cause of death in that instance arose from a lung 
affection, and not from eating sorghum. There are, 
however, well-authenticated instances wherein cattle 



46 



FORAGE CROPS. 










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SORGHUM. 47 

have died suddenly while grazing on second growth 
sorghum. The exact cause or causes of such loss do 
not appear to be well understood. It has been sur- 
mised that death has been caused by some poisonous 
element in the sorghum, and that frost may have 
something to do Avith thus changing the character of 
this splendid food. We must wait for a completely 
satisfactory explanation, for it has not as yet been 
forthcoming. In the meantime, caution should be 
exercised in pasturing cattle on second growth sor- 
ghum, especially late in the season. 

Caution should also be exercised when cattle or 
sheep are first put upon sorghum pasture. There is 
some danger from hoven or bloat, but not nearly so 
much as with clover, or alfalfa. That, at least, has 
been the experience of the Minnesota experiment sta- 
tion. At the said station no instance of bloat 
occurred from grazing on sorghum during the three 
seasons of depasturing above referred to. Yet that 
fact is not to be taken as positive evidence that sheep 
will not suffer from bloat in all sections of the coun- 
try and under all circumstances when pasturing on 
sorghum. 

Sometimes cattle are turned in to graze upon 
the sorghum after it has matured. This practice is 
frequent in portions of the semi-arid country adja- 
cent to the Rocky mountains, especially those por- 
tions of the same that have mild winters. The cattle 
do well on it, but the practice is a wasteful one. Yet 
where land is cheap and labor dear, sometimes it may 
be a proper thing to do. Of course, where the winters 
are severe the practice would be without justification. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 

The non-saccharine sorghums are a somewhat 
numerous class. They are so called because of the 
relatively small proportion of sugar which they con- 
tain, as compared with the saccharine varieties of 
sorghum. Because of this, however, the conclusion 
must not be reached that they do not possess any 
sugar when matured, or that they do not possess it 
in considerable quantities. All the non-saccharine 
sorghums are more or less rich in sugar, and some 
of them are possessed of it in a very considerable 
degree. 

The chief of the varieties of the non-saccharine 
sorghums grown in this country include Kaffir corn 
(Fig 9), Milo maize, Dhourra and Jerusalem corn. 
Teosinte is not, properly speaking, a sorghum, but it 
will be discussed along with the non-saccharine sor- 
ghums, because of the similarity of the cultivation 
required to grow it and of the uses for which it is 
grown. Chief among the varieties of Kaffir corn 
are the red and the white. There are two prominent 
varieties of Milo maize, named yellow and white, 
respectively. And of Dhourra there are also two 
varieties, the brown and the white. The last men- 
tioned would seem to be identical with the plant 
known as White African millet. As but little, com- 
l)aratively, has yet appeared in print with reference 
to the non-saccharine sorghums, unless it be Kaffir 

48 



THE NON-SACCPIARINE SORGHUMS. 



49 






,-D O 

a 










50 FORAGE CROPS. 

corn, it may be well to give a very brief description 
of each. 

Kaffir corn, like sorghum, has an upright ha1)it 
of growth, but it does not grow to so great a hight 
as sorghum or corn, hence it is more easily handled in 
the sheaf, when matured, than either of these plants. 
The stalks are sturdy and strong, and they taper as 
they grow upward, as seen in Fig. lo, showing white 
Kaffir corn grown for fodder. The leaves are large, 
long and fairly numerous, more especially in the cen- 
tral portion of the stalk, and they usually retain much 
of their greenness for some time after the maturing 
of the seed. The seed head is long and erect, and 
the production of seed is abundant. The white and 
red varieties are distinguished chiefly by the color of 
the seed head and of the seed. The white variety is 
later in maturing than the red, but it produces 
more seed. 

Milo maize, in both the yellow and white vari- 
eties, has an erect habit of growth and usually attains 
a great hight (Fig. 1 1 ). The stems are not so stocky 
as those of Kaffir corn, and they are abundantly sup- 
plied with leaves inclined to fine in quality. They 
are the most numerous on the upper half of the stem. 
When once well rooted, the plants grow rapidly and 
produce a large amount of good soiling food or 
fodder. The yellow variety is distinguished from the 
white l)y the color of the seed and by some other 
peculiarities not of very great moment. 

Dhourra (Fig. 12) grows a strong and some- 
what coarse stalk ; but, like Kaffir corn, it does not 
grow to a great hight. The leaves are broad and 
long, but are not so numerous as those produced by 
Yellow or White Milo maize. The seed head is 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 



51 



OS 

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FORAGE CROPS. 



thick and short and oval in shape, and the produc- 
tion of seed is abundant. It does not produce so 
much fodder as Milo maize. 

Jerusalem corn (Fig. 13) grows to a less hight 
than the other non-saccharine sorghums. The stems 
are heavy and the leaf growth is not abundant. The 
heads are large, thick and heavy, and are suspended 
on short stems resembling in their curve the neck of 
a goose. This plant would seem to be better adapted 
relatively to the production of seed than of fodder. 

Teosinte (Rcana luxurians) is not erect, l)ut 
branching in its habit of growth. It is claimed that 
as many as sixty stems have been produced from one 
seed. The plant suckers wonderfully and produces 
a great mass of long slender leaves. It has 
been affirmed that in some of the Gulf states a 
greater weight of green food can be obtained from 
teosinte than from any variety of the non-saccharine 
sorghums. It grows slowly for a time, but more 
rapidly as the plants become older. 

The non-saccharine sorghums bear no little 
resemblance to one another in their habits of growth. 
Chief among these resemblances are the following: 
First, the seed of each is slow^ in germinating, con- 
siderably more so than the seed of corn. The growth 
is also relatively slower for a time, although in the 
later stages thereof it is quite rapid. Second, the 
plants are more tender than those of corn when 
young, but when more advanced they are better able 
to withstand vicissitudes of weather, and more espe- 
cially such as arise from drouth. Third, with the 
exception of teosinte, they all produce seed from a 
head which grows on the t(^p of the seed steiu that 
pushes upward from each plant. Teosinte produces 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 53 




54 FORAGE CROPS. 

small ears. They grow numerously around every 
top joint, and are inclosed in a husk. Some of the 
heads remain erect, as those of Kaffir corn. Others, 
as those of Dhourra and Jerusalem corn, hang down, 
suspended on a goose neck curve of the seed stem. 
Fourth, seeds are numerous, but are much smaller 
than those of corn. Fifth, they require a longer 
])eriod to mature seed than is required by corn, hence 
in the far south they may be cut from two to four 
times in one season to provide green food. Strong 
evidence is here presented of the marked adaptability 
of these plants to furnish pasture, but with the excep- 
tion of Kaffir corn the author is unable to cite conclu- 
sive experience in growing these crops for pasture. 
Reasoning from general principles, teosinte should 
lead the list in such adaptability, because of its extra- 
ordinary tendency to tiller and to produce an abun- 
dance of fine leaves. But the question of palatabilit}- 
will have an important bearing on the relative value 
of these various plants for pasturing, and this does 
not as yet appear to have been fully determined. 

The non-saccharine sorghums differ from one 
another in the following particulars among others 
that could be enumerated : First, in the size and 
strength of the stem. Second, in the size and number 
of the leaves. Third, in the erect or pendulous char- 
acter of the stem which sustains the matured seed. 
Fourth, in the degree to which they sucker or tiller, 
and, fifth, in the time which they require to mature 
their seed. At the Minnesota University experiment 
farm in 1897, but little ripe seed was produced by any 
of the non-saccharine sorghums, although planted on 
May 17th. These plants were not seriously injured 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 



55 




Pig. 12. Brown Dhourra Grown for Fodder. 

Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 



/ 



56 FORAGE CROPS. 

by frost before October. White Milo maize did not 
mature any seed, and teosinte did not reach even 
the earing stage. Several varieties of corn planted 
at the same time matured seed by September i st and 
some even earlier; and Early Amber sorghum 
planted at the same date fully matured its seed. 

It is not easy to draw the line between the non- 
saccharine sorghums and some varieties of millet. 
The chief differences would seem to lie in the size of 
the stalk, the abundance or otherwise of the leaves, 
the size and shape of the head, and the size of the 
seed. The stems of millets are smaller and more 
leafy, though Pearl millet has stems nearly as large 
as some of the sorghums. The heads of the sorghums 
are larger and broader and less slender in character. 

Distribution. — The non-saccharine sorghums 
are of course specially adapted to conditions warmer 
and drier than are suitable for growing Indian corn 
at its best. They have been found preferable to the 
saccharine sorghums in many localities, for the rea- 
son that they give better yields of stalk and grain, 
and some of them are more leafy. It would not be 
easy or possible at the present time to state exactly 
where the dividing line should run between those 
portions of the United States which will grow corn 
or the non-saccharine sorghums to the best advan- 
tage. Bearing in mind that the latter require more 
heat and can endure more drouth, they must be 
grown south rather than north. The non-saccharine 
sorghums will probably grow more food per acre 
than corn south of a line as now described : This 
line would begin at the Atlantic and would probably 
run along or near the southern border of the states of 
Virginia and Kentucky until reaching the Mississippi 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 



57 




58 FORAGE CROPS. 

river. It would then run irregularly across the 
states of Missouri and Kansas to about the latitude 
of Denver in Colorado. From Denver it would 
probably rise to the latitude of Salt Lake City, or even 
further northward in the lower valleys, and it would 
again dip southward, reaching the sea somewhere 
about San Francisco. North of this line it is pretty 
certain that corn could be grown more profitably at 
the present time, for the combined uses of the prod- 
uct of the grain, the fodder and the pasture. But 
for pasture only, some of them are likely to prove 
more valuable than corn, although it is questionable 
if any of them will show a higher relative value than 
the saccharine sorghums in providing pasture north 
of the said line. Saccharine sorghums germinate 
more quickly, at least in some of their varieties, and 
are better able to endure lower temperature. But as 
the non-saccharine sorghums become better acclima- 
tized, more may be expected from them. The growth 
of these, however, is not likely ever to prove profit- 
able in any considerable areas of Canada, since in 
that country the mean summer temperatures are low. 
And the expectation is natural that the non- 
saccharine sorghums will not grow equally well in all 
parts of the south. Future experimentation with 
them will doubtless show special adaptation to cer- 
tain peculiarities of soil and climate. Already are 
they being grown more in certain centers than in 
others. Kafiir corn has given excellent results in the 
dry areas of Kansas and Oklahoma. Milo maize has 
grown excellently well in certain of the Atlantic 
states, notably Georgia, and teosinte is giving 
evidence that it is going to be a child of the far south- 
ward portion of this country. 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 59 

Place in the Rotation. — When the non-saccha- 
rine sorghums are grown on soils low in fertility and 
leechy in character, the aim should be to grow them 
after some form of green crop that has been plowed 
under, as, for instance, crimson clover, one or the 
other of the vetches, or winter rye. Since crimson 
clover and the vetches are able to store nitrogen in 
the land, they will be much more suitable than rye 
where they will grow equally well. These crops can 
be grown in the winter and plowed under in the 
spring in ample time to admit of sowing one or the 
other of the non-saccharine sorghums on the same 
land. Thus treated they will greatly add to the 
ability of the soil to produce. In addition to fur- 
nishing readily available food for the sorghums, they 
will also give the land much power to hold moisture. 
Both crops, that is to say, the green crop and the 
sorghum crop coming after it, would be cleaning 
crops. Where these crops can not be made to follow 
a green crop plowed under, they may be placed 
anywhere in the rotation. On poor soils it would be 
necessary to add commercial fertilizers before plant- 
ing the crop. But on the rich soils of the Mississippi 
basin this would not be so necessary, and the same is 
true of much of the soil in Texas and in the moun- 
tain valleys of the southwest. 

Soils. — The soils most suitable for the non- 
saccharine sorghums are much the same as those that 
are best suited to corn. They will grow best on mild 
loams, that is to say, loams that are warm and 
friable, in which the particles are fine rather 
than coarse, and in which the sand and clay 
are so blended as to give the soil power to 
retain a fair amount of moisture when lying 



Go FORAGE CROPS, 

on a subsoil of somewhat porous clay. But since 
these sorghums are all possessed of much power 
to gather food under dry conditions, they will grow 
better relatively on sandy bottoms than corn. A 
chief difificulty to be overcome in many of the soils of 
the south is a want of fertility, hence it is oftentimes 
necessary in some way to fertilize them in the Gulf 
and Atlantic states of that region, in order to get 
good crops. But the black soils of many of the river 
bottoms, of the prairies west of the Mississippi, and 
the gray soils of the southwestern valleys being rich 
in food constituents, are admirably adapted to 
growing these crops wdien sufficiently supplied with 
water, and without the necessity of adding fertility 
in the meantime. 

Preparing the Soil. — When preparing the soil 
for these crops, much will depend on the attendant 
conditions. In the Gulf states, wdiere moisture is 
much more abundant than in trans-Mississippi areas, 
the land may be plowed in the spring. Of course 
where a green crop grown through the winter was to 
be turned under, of necessity it would have to be 
turned under in the spring. In areas more dry, as, 
for instance, western Kansas and Oklahoma, it would 
be better to plow the land in the autumn where the 
same could be done, and to harrow it betimes in the 
spring until the season had arrived for planting the 
sorghum. Where irrigation is practiced, of course 
the farmer may plow the land at that season that will 
best suit his convenience and the end that he has 
in view. 

When a green crop is turned under in the spring 
the land should be rolled as soon as possible there- 
after to hinder surface evaporation. And where the 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 6l 

land will not drift, the same treatment should be 
given to spring plowed land in any case, in areas 
where moisture is not plentiful. 

Where commercial fertilizers are applied, it is 
common to sow them at the same time as the seed. 
The seed and the fertilizer, however, should not be 
deposited by the same drill tube, lest the fertilizer 
should injure the seed, because of too close proximity 
Jo it and in quantities too large. When it is desired 
to sow the sorghums thickly, as for pasture, it would 
be easily practicable to apply the fertilizers in the 
broadcasted form and just before the drilling in of 
the seed. The kind of fertilizer to apply must be 
determined chiefly by the needs of the land. 

Sozving. — Since all the non-saccharine sor- 
ghums are natives of the south, they cannot endure 
low temperatures. It is useless to plant them in a 
soil not yet warm, or before the arrival of distinc- 
tively settled warm weather. If planted sooner, 
either the seed will not sprout at all or it will make 
but a feeble and sickly growth after it has sprouted, 
if indeed the young plants do not perish outright. 
At the Minnesota University experiment station it 
has been noticed, first, that seed corn of varieties 
grown north until acclimated will sprout under con- 
ditions much more adverse than the more tender 
southern varieties of corn, and that the growth of the 
young plants will be correspondingly more vigorous. 
Second, that the early growth of varieties long 
acclimated is more vigorous than that of varieties but 
recently acclimated. Third, that these varieties of 
corn will grow with a fair amount of vigor under 
conditions where the seed of Early Amber sorghum 
with all its ruggedness would fail to germinate, or 



62 FORAGE CROPS. 

where though able to germinate it could make only a 
feeble and sickly growth. Fourth, Early Amber 
sorghum plants made a fair amount of growth under 
conditions of temperature too low for the successful 
starting of the non-saccharine sorghums. Fifth, 
that among the non-saccharine sorghums, the slowest 
in starting was teosinte, and, sixth, that when any of 
these sorghums made but a feeble growth at the first, 
the plants from seed sown later and under more 
favorable conditions as to temperature made a much 
more satisfactory growth. There would seem to 
be no advantage therefore but rather disadvan- 
tage in planting the seed of the non-saccharine 
sorghums earlier than the season of abiding warm 
weather. 

It would be impossible to fix the exact date at 
which the seed of these plants should be sown. It 
will vary with the locality and with the season. The 
date for planting would of course be later than the 
date best suited to planting corn. Kaffir corn 
should follow doubtless close upon the corn planting 
season, while teosinte would not suffer though not 
planted until a period considerably later. 

To provide soiling food and also fodder, non- 
saccharine sorghums are usually sown in rows and at 
distances which vary with the soil and with the 
variety of the plant. Usually they should not be 
grown less distant than corn grown for the same 
uses, that is to say, the rows should not be closer than 
thirty inches nor more distant than forty-eight 
inches. But a distance of sixty inches is allowed in 
some instances between the rows of teosinte; and 
the taller of these plants, as, for instance, INIilo 
maize, would seem to require a greater distance 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 63 

l)etween the rows than the shorter varieties, as, for 
instance, Jerusalem corn. 

When grown for pasture the seed may be sown 
broadcast and covered with the harrow, but when 
thus sown more seed is required, as some of the plants 
will fail to germinate, nor will they come up so evenly, 
since the seed is buried at uneven depths. The sub- 
sequent use of the harrow will tear out a goodly 
, number of plants, since at first they are less robust 
than corn plants, and less firmly rooted in the soil. 
And if grazed while the plants are still young and 
tender, more of them will be pulled up by the roots. 
It is preferable, therefore, to plant the seed with the 
grain drill, and with all the tubes in use ; but under 
some conditions, as, for instance, those in which the 
probable rainfall is deficient, it may be advantageous 
to plant the seed in rows far enough apart to admit of 
cultivation other than harrowing. 

When the seed of these sorghums is sown broad- 
cast to provide pasture, not less than one bushel per 
acre of seed is required. But under conditions that 
are very dry, much less than that amount may suffice, 
since the plants if too numerous will pine for want 
of moisture. When planted with the grain drill with 
all the tubes in use, three pecks of seeds should be 
ample ; and when the rows are made distant enough 
to admit of horse cultivation, a few quarts of seed 
per acre will be found sufficient. 

Cultivation. — If sown broadcast, the only culti- 
vation that can be given to these crops would be to 
harrow them, and the harrow would have to be used 
with extreme caution. It should of course be light, 
and when so used the teeth should have much of a 
backward slant, otherwise too many of the plants 



64 FORAGE CROPS. 

wonld be torn out or l)uried. In any event, many of 
them would be disturbed or uprooted, and to provide 
for such a contingency it would be necessary to sow 
enough seed to allow for the thinning that would 
thus be given to the plants. If sown with the grain 
drill, all the tubes running, or only a part of them, 
the cultivation would be the same. But when thus 
sown there would be less disturbance to the plants, as 
the seed would be deposited more deeply in the soil, 
and if the harrowing were given just before the 
young plants appeared above the surface, the 
disturbance would be less than when given later. 
Since these plants are more delicate than corn 
when young, the harrow cannot be used upon them 
so freely. 

When planted in rows to provide pasture, or 
indeed for any purpose, it would be greatly advan- 
tageous to the crop to cultivate it frequently when 
the rows are sufficiently distant to admit of horse 
cultivation. The kind of cultivation would be about 
the same as for corn, and the benefits therefrom 
would be similar in kind. (See Page 22.) After a 
season of depasturing such cultivation would be very 
beneficial, since it would take away any tendency 
to over-impaction or encrustation of the soil that 
might arise because of the treading of the hoofs of 
the animals that had been thus grazed. 

Pasturing. — No one of the non-saccharine sor- 
ghums would seem as yet to have been grown to any 
considerable extent for pasture, and yet some of them 
at least may be made to render excellent service in 
that way. Kaffir corn grown at the Minnesota Uni- 
versity experiment station proved quite satisfactory 
in providing summer pasture for sheep, but not quite 



THE NON-SACCHARINE SORGHUMS. 65 

SO much SO as the Early Amber variety of sorghum. 
When grazed off at the hight of about a foot it at 
once shot up again and with a greatly increased num- 
ber of shoots. The blades of the Kafhr corn were 
coarser and when the pasture had been grazed down 
they did not grow up again so erectly nor so numer- 
ously ; and yet it is possible that in localities in which 
there is betimes a deficiency of moisture, Kaffir 
.corn may furnish more pasture than sorghum. 
Milo maize in both of its varieties should furnish 
excellent pastiire and much of it, since it is a vigorous 
plant and prolific in growing leaves. But no one of 
these plants should prove equal to teosinte in provid- 
ing pasture. When teosinte is not sown too thickly, 
it produces leaves in great abundance, nor has it a 
tendency to throw up the stems at so early a period 
as the other non-saccharine sorghums. But the 
author has not been able to glean any information 
based on experience with reference to the pasturing 
of this plant. In the far south it would prove a 
great boon as a pasture plant. 

Wliile these plants may under some conditions 
be pastured off by any class of live stock, there w^ould 
probably be much waste from pasturing on them 
heavy animals, as horses, mules or cattle, and the 
more advanced the growth of the crops the greater 
would be the relative waste. But it would not be w^ise 
to pasture such animals upon them even at an early 
stage of growth, for then the plants would be so 
much bruised and crushed by the hoofs of the 
animals that many of them would be likely to 
perish. But there may be occasions when it would 
be in order to pasture these crops with heavy 
animals, although much waste should result, as 

5 



66 FORAGE CROPS. 

when, for instance, they are to be plowed under for 
green manure. 

In providing pasture for sheep and swine, they 
should be equally serviceable with sorghum. Sheep 
especially should graze them down with but little 
waste, if turned in upon them before they got 
beyond the hight of, say, twelve inches. 

In pasturing off these crops, it would be neces- 
sary to observe much caution in turning in animals 
to graze after the application of irrigating waters, 
or after much rainfall, especially on lands that are 
easily injured by treading when thus pastured. 
Impaction under these conditions would greatly 
injure the future growth of the crop. 

The duration of the season of depasturing 
should be considerable in the south, owing to the 
length of the season. The relative advantage, there- 
fore, from growing such crops in the south and 
southwest should be considerably greater than in the 
north. For how long a period they will provide 
pasture from a single sowing, the author is unable 
to say. Much that it would be greatly advantageous 
to know in regard to the growth of these plants can- 
not be given as yet. It can be unfolded only by the 
experience of the future. 



CHAPTER V. 

PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 

Unfortunately the number of the species of 
this very useful family of forage plants that have 
hitherto been grown in North America is not large. 
The list includes the common or medium red, the 
mammoth, the alsike, the crimson, the white or 
Dutch clover and alfalfa. All of these are grown 
for forage to a greater or a lesser extent, and all of 
them are also grown singly or in certain combina- 
tions to produce fodders to be eaten in the cured 
form. But it is only with reference to pasture that 
they will be considered here. 

COMMON OR MEDIUM RED CLOVER. 

Common or medium red clover ( Trifoliiim pra- 
tense) is one of the best forage plants that a kind 
Providence ever gave to the people of this continent. 
Its great value as a forage plant arises, first, from the 
length of the season during which it will provide 
pasture ; second, from the large amount relatively of 
this pasture that it will furnish from a given area; 
third, from the high nutritive properties it possesses ; 
fourth, from the almost uninterrupted continuity of 
the growth of the plants from spring until autumn ; 
and, fifth, from the ease with which it may be grown 
in combination with various other forage plants. 
Usually, medium red clo\'er will furnish pasture 

67 



68 FORAGE CROPS. 

from the commencement of the season of growth 
until the arrival of autumn frosts of some degree of 
severity. There is no other kind of clover that w^ill 
furnish as much pasture in a single season. The 
high nutritive properties which red clover possesses 
are made manifest in the chemical analysis which 
the pasture gives, and in the quick improvement in 
the condition of the animals that are pastured 
upon it. 

It is also excellent for milk production, because 
of its nitrogenous character. Medium red clover 
will grow from spring until fall, in a moist climate, 
without any interruption. Of course, in dry cli- 
mates continuity in growth will be interrupted soon 
after the arrival of dry weather, in the absence of 
irrigation. And it may be grown for pasture with 
much success in combination w^ith such plants as 
timothy, alsike, small white clover, and orchard 
grass. The weak point in common red clover as a 
forage plant lies in its short life as compared with 
some other pasture plants. Speaking in a general 
way, it would be called biennial, but in some sec- 
tions of the republic peculiarly adapted to its growth, 
as, for instance, the part of Washington state that 
borders on Puget Sound, it assumes a perennial 
rather than a biennial character, and the same is 
true of it in many of the Rocky Mountain valleys. 

Distribution. — Happily, this wonderful plant, 
too little valued because of its commonness, has a 
wide distril^ution. Like blue grass, it is in a sense 
cosmopolitan in much of the United States and Can- 
ada. But there are considerable areas, nevertheless, 
that are too cold, too warm or too dry for its suc- 
cessful growth. Among the first are the areas west 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 69 

of Lake Superior, north of the 50th parallel, and 
east of the Rocky Mountains. Among the second 
are the areas that lie south of an irregular line that 
would probably be confined within the states lying 
between the 35th and 40th parallels. And among 
the third are the areas that lie in the upper Missouri 
basin and southward therefrom. But in each 
instance there are exceptions to the limits thus put 
tipon the growth of medium red clover, for its suc- 
cessful production depends even more upon altitude 
than upon parallels of latitude and longitude. 

Place in the Rotation. — Medium red clover 
may be given any place in the rotation. But it is 
peculiarly fitting that it shall be sown after a crop 
that has been cultivated with a view to cleaning the 
soil. When grown for pasture, however, it is not 
so necessary that it shall be sown on clean land as 
when grown for other uses, since timely depastur- 
ing will prevent nearly all forms of w^eed life from 
ripening their seeds in the pasture. And it is good 
practice to follow it with some kind of crop that 
requires much nitrogen to grow it in good form, 
since, as is now generally known, clover has much 
power to take nitrogen from the air and place it in 
the soil. The roots of the plants that immediately 
follow the clover may readily appropriate it. The 
small grains, corn and sorghum, may, with much 
advantage, be made to follow clover. 

Soil. — Clay loam soils that lie upon a subsoil of 
what may be termed mild clay are usually consid- 
ered the best for the production of clover. But to 
this there may be some exceptions. Stiff clay, with 
a subsoil not too unyielding, will produce good crops 
of clover when sufficient moisture is present, particu- 



yO FORAGE CROPS. 

larly those of a reddish cast, as, for instance, the 
clay lands lying southward from Duluth, Minn. The 
same is true of some sandy soils, more especially 
those of volcanic origin, as, for instance, soils in the 
Flathead valley, Mont. The light soils of the 
prairie, that sink readily beneath the tread when 
being cultivated, do not possess marked adaptation 
for the growth of clover ; but it can be successfullv 
grown on these when moisture is present in suffi- 
cient quantities, and wdiere the climate is otherwise 
suitable. Over large areas where clover could not 
be made to grow successfully on these soils when 
first brought under cultivation, it now grows with 
much certainty as a pasture crop and also as a hay 
crop. This is partly owing to the firming of the 
land through cropping it, and partly, it is claimed, 
to the increase of certain bacteria in the soil favor- 
able to the growth of clover. These, it is affirmed, 
increase in the soil with the continued growth of the 
clover. Although clover will grow on land that is 
not rich, it may be necessary to enrich some kinds 
of poor soil, as, for instance, poor sands, before 
clover can be made to grow on them with any 
marked degree of success. The attempt to grow 
clover successfully on such lands when the rainfall 
is not plentiful, and when they are underlaid with 
sand and gravel, is a hopeless undertaking in the 
absence of irrigating waters. 

Preparing the Soil. — In growing clover for 
pasture, the preparation of the soil is the same as in 
growing it for hay. It is more commonly sown 
along with a nurse crop, hence the preparation of 
soil that is best suited to growing the nurse crop 
will also usually be best suited to the growing of the 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 7 1 

clover. With soils that are naturally of a stiff tex- 
ture, the aim should be to secure a deep and fine pul- 
verization in the seed bed. Such are the clays of 
Ohio and of some states further east; and also 
those of Ontario and other provinces east from 
Ontario. With soils that are of a spongy character, 
and especially with those that lift more or less 
with the wind, the aim should be to firm the seed 
bed when preparing it. Such are certain of the 
soils covering a considerable proportion of the 
upper Mississippi basin and its tributaries. Soils 
that are liable to be surcharged with water during 
any considerable portion of the year will prove 
much more suitable if drained before being laid 
down to clover. In some instances surface drains 
will suffice, but in others underdrains will be 
more suitable. 

Sozviug. — The early spring will, in nearly all 
instances, be found the best time in which to sow 
clover. But there may be localities abundantly sup- 
plied with moisture and favored with mild winters in 
which it would be practicable to sow clover during 
the late summer and early autumn months. This 
should not be attempted, however, in any locality in 
which the winter temperatures are low. And w^hile 
there may be sections subject to severe frosts after 
growth has begun in the spring, in which it may be 
wise to defer sowing clover for a time after the 
ground is ready to receive it, as a rule clover should 
be sown as early as practicable in the spring. 

As has been stated, clover is usually sown with 
a nurse crop. A nurse crop is one that provides it 
with shade when it is young. Winter wheat, winter 
rye and barley are very suitable as nurse crops for 



72 FORAGE CROPS. 

clover, since the shade they furnish is less dense than 
that of some other crops; and the shade is sooner 
removed, as they are harvested early. The two first 
named cereals also admit of early sowing. Spring 
wheat and oats shade the seed overmuch, but of the 
two spring wheat is more suitable than oats as a 
nurse crop. Flax does not provide a dense shade, 
hence it would sometimes answer well as a nurse 
crop but for the reason that the later season at which 
it is sown makes a "catch" of the seed more hazard- 
ous to obtain. 

Some authorities advocate sowing clover alone ; 
that is to say, sowing it as the sole crop on the land. 
There may be some instances where it may be wise 
to adopt this plan, more especially where it is dififi- 
cult to get a stand of clover because of the dearth of 
moisture. It is at least questionable if this method 
of sowing clover will ever be very generally prac- 
ticed, and for the following reasons : First, it is 
not necessary in moist climates ; second, the growth 
of weeds is apt to crowd the clover plants more than 
a nurse crop of grain would ; and, third, on some 
soils, especially stiff clays, the shade furnished by 
the nurse crop when young is advantageous to the 
clover plants while in the early stage of growth. It 
would seem to be a better way where there is a fight 
for moisture between the nurse crop and the clover, 
to sow the clover along with oats, using not more 
than half the usual quantity of the seed of the oats 
per acre. Oats are mentioned because of the use 
that can be made of them for hay when they are har- 
vested. They should be harvested as soon as the 
heads are fully out, and sometimes even earlier, that 
more moisture may be left for the clover, and that 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. J^i 

more sunlight may shine upon it to make the plants 
strong. But if the season should prove moist, the 
cats may be allowed to stand until they have 
matured. 

At the Central Minnesota experiment station 
the author has had much success in getting a catch 
of clover seed, and also of timothy seed, by sowing 
these along with a mixed crop of peas and oats, 
.grown to provide summer forage for sheep. The 
soil is a sandy loam, light enough in texture to wash 
easily. The clover seed was sown broadcast at the 
same time as the peas and oats, and covered with 
the harrow. The system of depasturing w^ill be 
described in Chapter VIII. And it is probable that 
such a method of obtaining a stand of clover will be 
found even better adapted to the dark, spongy soils 
of the prairie, whether the clover is sown along with 
peas and oats, other cereals, or rape, and whether the 
pastures thus furnished are grazed down by cattle, 
sheep or swine. The reasons for this belief are logi- 
cal. The tramping of the ground firms the soil, and 
so lessens the escape of moisture by evaporation ; 
and the removal of the nurse crop by depasturing 
leaves more moisture for the clover than would be 
left to it if the crop w^ere not grazed down, and also 
lets in sunlight to strengthen the crop. 

Clover seed may be sown broadcast by hand, 
with any form of hand seeder that has been found 
suitable, or with an attachment to the grain drill. It 
is sometimes mixed with the seed grain and is sown 
along with it, but this method of sowing is not to be 
commended. The clover, being the smaller seed, 
runs out more quickly than the grain, hence the 
'' seeding "is irregular. More commonly it is con- 



74 FORAGE CROPS. 

sidered preferable to have the grain fall before the 
tubes of the grain drill, that the seed may thus be 
provided with a covering. 

Whether the harrow or the roller, or both, shall 
be used in covering the seed is a question entirely 
dependent on conditions. On prairie soils and in 
localities where dry weather is prone to come early 
in the season, the seed should be covered deeply, but 
on clay soils it should be covered less deeply. When 
sown on lands which carry a crop of winter wheat 
or winter rye, the harrow should always be used to 
cover the seed if the soil has dried enough to admit 
of so doing. When the seed drops before the drill 
tubes, with clay soils the covering furnished by the 
grain tubes which follow will be ample, but on loose 
or light soils it may still be necessary to follow the 
drill with the harrow. And in a dry seed time 
great good would almost certainly result from fol- 
lowing the seed drill with the roller, and the roller 
with the harrow. The roller would impact the land 
and the harrow would lessen the tendency to evapo- 
ration in the soil, and also the tendency to be lifted 
by the winds. In the states and provinces east of the 
upper Mississippi basin, when clover is broadcasted 
on land that has been sown with some spring cereal 
the roller alone will provide an ample covering for 
the clover seed. 

Cultivation. — Medium red clover does not, of 
course, require any cultivation after it has been 
sown. But there may be instances in which the har- 
row may be used as an aid to the re-seeding of pas- 
ture lands, when it is not considered desirable to 
1)1<)W them up. If the clover on these has not 
been cropped too closely many clover heads will 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 75 

mature their seeds. These in due time will fall to 
the ground. The following spring the harrow may 
be made to render good service by running it over 
these lands as early as possible. It helps to bury the 
seed, and as the seed remains in the seed sacs, it is 
almost certain to grow. The harrowing may also 
be done so late in the fall that the seed will not 
sprout previously to the coming of the winter. The 
' benefit from this form of re-seeding will be depend- 
ent upon such conditions as relate to soil and climate. 
Much of the soil of the prairie seems to be adapted to 
this form of re-seeding. There are localities in 
which it is possible to maintain a clover pasture for 
years by the adoption of this method. 

Pasturing. — Common or medium red clover 
should not be pastured off ordinarily the same year 
it was sown. Such pasturing removes the covering 
that would otherwise protect the roots of the clover 
in winter. And if done early in the season it would 
also hinder root development. But there may be 
instances in which the growth of the clover would 
be so luxuriant that it would be proper to pasture it 
off to prevent smothering in the winter, especially in 
localities where a heavy snowfall may be expected. 

The second season after sowing the clover is 
that in which it provides an abundance of pas- 
ture. In grazing live stock upon it the aim should 
be to keep it so cropped off that it Avill not become 
rank and coarse, otherwise much of it is liable to be 
trodden down rather than eaten off. If the clover 
should grow so rapidly as to get ahead of the needs 
of the stock, the mower should be run over the field 
not later than the blossoming stage of the clover. 
The clover so cut may remain on the field as a 



7^ FORAGE CROPS. 

mulch, or it may be cured for hay, as desired. Swine 
pastures especially will be benefited by this mode of 
treatment, and in any event it will hinder the matur- 
ing of weed seeds. 

There is no better method of obtaining a crop of 
medium red clover seed than by pasturing the clover 
closely for a time, and then removing the stock. 
The pasturing should begin as soon as the growth 
in the clover plants will warrant turning in the 
stock. The season for removing the stock wall vary 
with the locality and with the rainfall, but in any 
event it should take place from, say, ten to fifteen 
days earlier than the period wdien the clover not so 
pastured would be in bloom. Clover plants thus 
managed seem capable of bearing more and better 
seed than those wdiich come into flower before they 
are cut to be made into hay. After the seed has been 
removed, another season of pasturing may follow, 
but the production of seed lessens the power of the 
plants to grow pasture. 

After the first cutting of the clover has been 
made in order to provide hay, an abundance of pas- 
ture will usually be furnished by the clover the same 
season, providing a crop of seed or a second crop of 
hay is not desired. As the weather' at that season 
is usually drier than in the spring, the live stock 
should not be turned in on the clover until it has 
made considerable growth, as then it furnishes more 
or less shade, which tends to lessen evaporation. 

Medium red clover furnishes excellent pasture 
for horses, cattle, sheep and swine. But sometimes 
there is hazard in turning cattle and sheep into a 
clover pasture, more especially when the plants are 
very succulent, and the hazard is increased when 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 'J'J 

they are wet with dew or rain. If the cattle or 
sheep are hungry they will eat so freely of the clover 
that hoven or bloating may follow. Unless treat- 
ment is promptly given they are pretty certain to 
die. The treatment suitable is given on Page 162, 
Observation 4. 

Ohscrvations. — i. The common or medium red 
clover is not specially adapted for being grown in 
'permanent pastures because of its short-lived habit 
of growth. It may be well to sow it in these, but 
only in limited quantities and with the expectation 
that it will nearly all disappear at the end of two 
or three years. 

2. When medium clover is to be sown on clay 
lands or black loam soils, where it is liable to " lift " 
or " heave " with the frost in the spring, such heav- 
ing or lifting may be avoided in a very considerable 
degree by first draining the lands. The heaving is 
caused by the alternate freezing and thawing of the 
lands that are surcharged with moisture. 

3. Much fall pasture may be furnished in 
localities that are favored with an ample supply of 
rainfall by sowing medium clover with all the cereal 
crops grown, even though the land is to be plowed 
again in the late autumn or in the spring following. 
Much pasture may thus be obtained, especially in 
"dropping" or showery seasons, to say nothing of 
the plant food put into the land. But what is termed 
"heavy seeding" should not be resorted to, lest a 
period of dry weather should follow, when the seed 
would be lost. Less than half the usual quantity 
sown would be enough to risk thus. 

4. In seasons where clover is usually grown in 
short rotations and where seed crops are frequently 



yS> FORAGE CROPS. 

harvested from it, much seed becomes stored in the 
land. A portion of what is thus lodged in the soil 
is brought near the surface by the ordinary processes 
of cultivation, and in due time it grows. The 
clover, as it were, " seeds " itself, and it thus fur- 
nishes much autumn pasture without any cost to the 



grower. 



MAMMOTH CLOVER. 



Mammoth clover (Trifolmm medium), as the 
name would indicate, makes a strong and vigorous 
growth on soils possessed of the requisite adapta- 
tion. Like the common red clover, it is a biennial, 
although to this habit of growth there are some 
exceptions. On soils with a marked adaptation for 
growing mammoth clover it will live longer than in 
those opposite in character. The same result will 
follow if the climatic conditions are just right. And 
if hindered from producing seed, as, for instance, 
when it is pastured, its life period will be prolonged. 
It resembles the common red in the form of the 
leaves, the shape and color of the blossoms, and in 
the general habit of its growth as to form in top and 
root. And it differs from the same — first, in the 
greater size of the stems and heads ; second, in the 
greater hight to which it grows; third, in the later 
season at which it matures; fourth, in the greater 
size of the roots and in the greater depth to which 
they penetrate ; and, fifth, in its inability to produce 
two crops of hay in one season, or to provide an 
abundance of pasture after the usual season for seed 
production. It is evident, therefore, that mam- 
moth clover is not so well adapted to provide pasture 
as the medium red ; but there is a place for it, and 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 79 

that place will be found, in many instances at least, 
on soils where medium red clover will grow but not 
with marked vigor. The mammoth being a stronger 
plant, it has more power to gather plant food in 
the soil. 

Distribution. — The distribution of mammoth 
clover is much the same as the distribution of the 
medium red variety. (See Page 68.) Where the 
'one will grow so wdll the other, at least measurably 
well. So far as the two varieties have been tried 
this result has been noticed. The mammoth clover, 
however, has not yet been grown over so wide an 
area as the medium red, hence it is possible that 
there may be localities where one of these varieties 
only will flourish, but if so these have not hitherto 
been defined. 

Place in the Rotation. — Mammoth clover 
should be given the same place in the rotation as the 
medium red clover. (See Page 69.) It should be 
sown for pasture, therefore, in short rotations, and 
should follow, when practicable, a cultivated crop, 
to be succeeded by a grain crop. 

Soil. — The soils suited to mammoth clover are 
substantially the same as those. suited to the medium 
red variety. (See Page 69.) Since mammoth 
clover, however, would seem to have greater power 
to gather plant food in the soil than the medium red, 
it is relatively better adapted to lands not well sup- 
plied with fertility. And as it sends its roots deeper 
into the soil, it is better able to withstand drouth 
in dry seasons, and also the influences that cause 
heaving or lifting in dry soils supplied with too 
much moisture in the season of freezing and thaw- 
ing. Mammoth clover, therefore, has, in some 



8o FORAGE CROPS. 

instances, found more favor in the sandy soils 
and even in the loam soils of the prairies that 
border on the semi-arid region east of the Rocky 
mountains. 

Preparing the Soil. — Preparing the soil for 
mammoth clover is substantially the same as prepar- 
ing it for the medium red variety. ( See Page 70. ) 
But it is even more important with mammoth clover 
to have the ground deeply plowed previous to the 
growing of the cultivated or other crop that pre- 
cedes the clover, that its roots may readily push 
down into the soil. This is not inconsistent 
with firming spongy soils subsequent to the deep 
plowing. 

Sowing. — The various methods given as suit- 
able for sowing red clover are the same as those that 
should be adopted in sowing mammoth clover. ( See 
Page 71.) The amount of seed required to pro- 
vide pasture will depend upon the fact as to whether 
it is to be sown alone or in combination with other 
kinds of pasture plants. When sown alone not 
less, probably, than ten pounds of seed per acre 
should be used, as the seed is somewhat larger than 
that of the medium clover. And w^hen the condi- 
tions are not all favorable, it would be good practice 
to sow a larger quantity of seed. When sown with 
the seeds of other pasture plants, the quantity of 
seed used should be proportionately reduced. More 
pasture will be furnished where mammoth clover is 
sown along with medium red clover, as the latter 
grows vigorously in the spring and in the autumn, 
and the former is at its best in the late spring and 
early summer. When thus grown, equal parts of 
the seed of each variety may be used. 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 8 1 

Cultivation. — As with medium red clover, no 
cultivation is required. (See Page 74.) What is 
said of medium clover under the head of cultivation 
will apply equally to the mammoth variety. 

Pasturing. — Much of what has been stated in 
regard to the pasturing of medium red clover \n\\\ 
apply with equal propriety to the pasturing of mam- 
moth clover. (See Page 75.) Like medium 
(flover, it will furnish pasture well adapted to the 
needs of all kinds of live stock grown upon the farm. 
Animals may be turned in on it as soon in the 
spring as it will furnish them plentifully with food. 
It is even' more important not to let the clover get 
beyond the power of the animals to crop it back than 
when pasturing the medium variety. And it is 
equally important that cattle and sheep shall not be 
allowed to pasture upon it at will wdiile hungry, 
more especially when it is wet from dew or rain. It 
will not furnish much pasture in the autumn, 
whether it has been grazed during the season pre- 
viously or cut for hay. 

When the clover is to be cut for seed, it may 
sometimes prove an excellent plan to graze it off 
closely for a time in the early spring, lest the ener- 
gies of the plants become too much concerned in the 
production of a superabundant growth of stems 
and leaves. On soils pre-eminently adapted to 
the growth of clover this precaution should not be 
neglected. 

While the pasturing should be close, it should 
not be long continued, or the development of the 
plants may not be sufficient to produce a maximum 
crop of seed. This result is certain to follow pro- 
longed pasturing if the weather should turn dry. It 
6 



^2 FORAGE CROPS. 

is better, therefore, to run some hazard from over 
vigor in the growth of the plants than from insuffi- 
cient development, since the loss is likely to be less. 
On some soils it may not be necessary to pasture 
thus to any extent. 

Observations. — i. Mammoth clover is not well 
adapted for permanent pastures, since it is not usu- 
ally perennial in its habit of growth. Nevertheless, 
it may be sown as a part of the mixture with the 
expectation that it will live for two years and pos- 
sibly for a longer period. 

2. This clover makes an excellent fertilizer to 
plow under, because of the great bulk of the green 
product that it furnishes, and because of the great 
mass of vegetable matter in the root growth. When 
grown for this purpose, it may be advantageous 
sometimes to let it grow up until near the blossom- 
ing stage and then to pasture off the more palatable 
portions previous to plowing under the residue. 

ALSIKE CLOVER. 

Alsike clover (Trifolium hybriduin) is distin- 
guished from the common red or medium clover, 
first, by the finer and more recumbent character of 
the grow^th ; second, by the later season at which it 
matures ; third, by its inability to produce much pas- 
ture after the season of maturity; fourth, by the 
pinkish rather than the blood red tinge which char- 
acterizes its blossoms ; fifth, by the much less size of 
the roots ; and, sixth, by its perennial rather than 
biennial habit of growth. The roots do not go 
down so deeply into the soil, hence it has less power 
to withstand prolonged drouth on the uplands. It 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 83 

is much superior to the common red in providing 
honey for bees, and it is also better adapted for 
being grown along with timothy, first, because it 
ripens at the same time; and, second, because 
ordinarily it crowds the timothy less than the com- 
mon red. It can withstand lower temperatures than 
the common red, hence the limit of its growth is 
further north than that of the other. And when 
.supplied with moisture it would seem to be adapted 
to temperatures equally warm. It can usually be 
grown in good form between the 40th and 50th par- 
allels of north latitude, from the Atlantic to the 
Pacific, when sown on soils with the requisite adap- 
tation ; and south of the 40th parallel it can also be 
profitably grown under certain conditions. 

Place in the Rotation. — Alsike clover, like the 
medium red, should be sown on soils that have been 
previously cropped with grain, and to such an extent 
that they require an increase of nitrogen and of veg- 
etable matter. The clover roots will supply both 
of these. If the crop immediately preceding the 
clover has been a cultivated crop, and if it has been 
suitably cared for, the soil will be in a condition to 
grow the clover without any injurious admixture of 
weeds. Cereal crops, or corn should follow the 
clover. Alsike clover is not a good rotation crop, 
because of its perennial habit of growth. When- 
ever a stand has been secured it is usual to pasture 
it, or to cut it for hay for several years. 

Soils. — Alsike clover has special adaptation for 
clay soils, for clay loam soils, and for the soils of the 
bottom lands of the Rocky mountain region that lies 
within the clover belt. It thrives well on the stifTest 
clays. It thrives better on loam soils well supplied 



84 FORAGE CROPS. 

with humus and underlaid with clay; and, judging 
by the tests that have been made, it would seem 
to thrive best on the deposit soils of the Rocky 
mountain basins. But moisture must be present in 
goodly supply before it can grow well on any soil. 
The slough lands of the prairie regions would seem 
to have special adaptation for Alsike clover when 
water is not present in too plentiful supply. On 
such soils it may be submerged for days at a time 
without injury in the early springtime, but the 
waters that cover it must, of course, be quite shal- 
low. It will not grow well on sandy or gravelly 
soils, poorly supplied with the elements of fertility. 
The clay loam soils of the Puget Sound country, 
with the abundance of moisture which they possess, 
furnish a perfect paradise for Alsike clover. 

Preparation of the Soil. — The preparation of 
the soil for Alsike clover is essentially the same as for 
medium clover. (See Page 70.) And there are 
localities where this clover can be sown on newly 
cleared lands without any other preparation than 
that of removing the timber in whole or in part that 
grew upon them. Of course, if the fire has been 
made to consume a part of the waste timber, or all 
of it, the "catch'' of the seed will be more satisfac- 
tory. Even harrowing may not be necessary. Such 
are the timber lands west of the Cascade mcnuitains. 
Some grasses, as blue grass, for instance, should 1)e 
sown along with the clover. The small white 
clover will soon come, as it were, spontaneously on 
such lands. 

Solving. — Nearly all that has been said with 
reference to the sowing of medium red clover will 
also apply to the sowing of Alsike clover. ( See Page 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 85 

71.) The aim should be, however, to cover the 
seed of the Alsike less deeply, since it is a much 
smaller seed. The proper depth will, of course, 
depend upon conditions. In moist New England, 
in some states further west, in eastern Canada and 
in the Puget Sound district, the tubes of the grain 
drill as they deposit the nurse crop will sufficiently 
cover the seed that has been dropped or scattered 
before the drill. In the absence of a grain drill the 
roller will provide a sufficient covering. But in the 
prairie soils of the upper Mississippi basin a light 
harrow will not cover the seed too deeply. 

To provide pasture, Alsike clover is more com- 
monly sown along with some other kind of grass or 
clover, as, for instance, timothy, orchard grass, Ken- 
tucky blue grass, and medium red clover. But it 
may also be sown alone. Wherever orchard grass will 
flourish, Alsike clover and blue grass make an excel- 
lent combination along with it in providing pasture, 
since the two grasses grow both early and late in 
the season, and the clover is at its best in the early 
summer. On the slough soils of the prairie, Alsike 
clover, timothy, and blue grass or red top make a 
good pasture. 

The amount of seed required will be dependent 
chiefly on the grasses along with which the clover is 
sown. If sown alone, four pounds of seed per acre 
will be found sufficient in nearly all soils. If sown 
along with other grasses, the quantity must needs 
be proportionately decreased. 

Cultivation. — Alsike clover, like the other 
kinds, does not require to be cultivated. But on 
suitable soils it may be made to re-seed itself, and 
thus to retain its hold upon the ground for many 



86 FORAGE CROPS. 

years. The method by which this end may be 
accompHshed is substantially the same as that given 
for securing the re-seeding of the medium red 
clover. (See Page 74.) But with Alsike clover 
this end is more easily attained than with the com- 
mon red, since heads of matured seed uneaten by 
the live stock are apt to be more numerous because 
of the more recumbent character of the growth of 
the clover. It is also a hardier plant. However, 
on some soils, particularly those of a stiff character, 
it would not be wise thus to perpetuate clover 
pastures. 

Pasturing. — When Alsike. clover is sown alone, 
it may be pastured continuously after it has made a 
good start in the spring. But it will not produce 
much growth after the season for maturing the 
seed ; that is to say, after the period about simulta- 
neous with the ripening of the barley crop. Because 
of this habit of growth the value of Alsike clover as 
a pasture crop is materially decreased. As with 
other kinds of clover, more pasture will be obtained 
where the cropping is not too close. When the pas- 
ture is grazed too closely, the hot sun produces a 
more rapid evaporation on the unshaded ground, 
and it further weakens the chance of the plants to 
grow because of cramped breathing capacity. Close 
cropping in the autumn increases the hazard to the 
plants from cold winds and severe frosts, since it 
completely removes the covering that would other- 
wise aid in protecting them. 

Alsike clover pasture is relished by all kinds 
of live stock grown upon the farm ; and there would 
seem to l)e less danger of hoven when animals are 
feeding upon it than when feeding upon medium red 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 87 

or mammoth clover pastures. This point, however, 
has not been unequivocally established. 

When Alsike clover is wanted for seed, it may 
be advantageous to pasture it for a time after it has 
begun to grow in the spring. The pasturing should 
be close as long as it is continued, to secure uniform- 
ity in the subsequent development of the crop. 
Such pasturing will prevent overluxuriance in the 
growth of the clover on soils and in seasons when 
such overgrowth is to be feared. The energies 
of the plant are thus diverted from the over- 
production of stems and leaves to the production 

of seed. 

The duration of the pasturing given to these 
seed crops cannot be stated, as it will vary with the 
character of the season. On some soils, as, for 
instance, stiff clays, pasturing is not required, and in 
any event the pasturing should not be long contin- 
ued, lest it should prevent the plants from making 
growth enough to produce seed plentifully. 

Observations. — i. Alsike clover is well suited 
for being sown with mixtures of grass seeds 
used in making permanent pastures, because of 
its hardihood and because of its perennial habit 
of growth. 

2. A stand of Alsike clover may not infre- 
quently be obtained in slough lands of the prairie by 
scattering the seed on the native sod in the early 
spring. If the native grass can be cut early or pas- 
tured off after the young clover plants have made a 
good start, the clover will be much benefited. But 
in dry summers a stand of the clover is not likely to 
be secured. 

3. Alsike clover and timothy are well adapted 



88 FORAGE CROPS. 

for being" grown together, whether for hay or for 
pasture, since both grow well on humus soils 

CRIMSON CLOVER. 

Crimson or scarlet clover (Trifolium incarna- 
tinn) is so called from the beautiful rich bloom of 
the heads when in flower. It is said to be a native 
of Central and Southern Europe. Until quite 
recently it has not been tested in many of the states 
of the Union, hence its precise value as a forage 
crop in localities where it has not been proved cannot 
be stated. 

Crimson clover is an annual, but has a semi- 
biennial habit of growth, since it is sown in the 
summer and matures its seeds in the springtime of 
the following year. It is more upright in its habit 
of growth than some of the other clovers, and it has 
probably a less proportion of leaf growth to the 
stems. It grows from twelve to thirty inches 
high, according to conditions, and reaches maturity 
in time to be followed with divers other crops, as 
corn, sorghum, and various garden vegetables. The 
blossoms are cone-shaped, with much of length in 
proportion to the diameter, and the bloom is of the 
richest crimson or scarlet. A field in the meridian 
of blossoming is a beautiful sight. 

Distribution. — As stated previously, crimson 
clover has not been fully tested in some of the states 
of the Union, hence it is impossible in the present 
state of our knowledge to speak with sufficient defi- 
niteness as to where it can or cannot be profitably 
grown as a pasture crop, or indeed for any purpose. 
And the difficulty is increased by the contradictory 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 89 

character of the reports that have been pubHshed in 
regard to it from the same locaHties. Some of these 
refer to it as a total failure, and others speak of it as 
an encouraging success. These contradictory 
reports arise, doubtless, from variations in the sea- 
sons and in the mode of growing it. 

Speaking in a general way, the growth of 
crimson clover is attended with more or less of haz- 
ard north of 40 degrees ; that is to say, north of the 
cities of Philadelphia, Columbus and Denver, and 
east of the Rocky mountains. Nevertheless, there 
are some exceptions. In Delaware, for instance, it 
is a success. In some parts of Pennsylvania and 
New York it has proved satisfactory; and in por- 
tions of other states north of the line named it has 
been grown with success. But within the limits 
mentioned there will be more or less of hazard in 
growing crimson clover, according as the winter is 
propitious or otherwise. In experiments conducted 
by direction of the author at the Ontario experiment 
station, at Guelph, the clover failed to pass through 
the winter alive. Unless, therefore, the habit of 
growth can be so changed that the plant will success- 
fully fulfill its mission in one season, it is not likely 
to prove a treasure to very much of the area that has 
been set down as doubtful or prohibitory. 

Of course, in the bench lands between the 
Rocky mountain ranges, and in the river bottoms, 
crimson clover is not likely to prove a success, unless 
when grown under irrigation, and reports from 
growing it thus do not as yet seem to be forthcom- 
ing. On the Pacific slopes of Oregon and Wash- 
ington and of Britisli Columbia it will doubtless 
grow, though but little tried hitherto. It should be 



90 FORAGE CROPS. 

capable of furnishing early pasture in the spring 
time in that region of mild winters. 

Crimson clover can be grown with success in 
much of the area south of the 40th parallel, and east 
of a line running irregularly down through the 
states of Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana, and not 
far from the western border of these states. In 
other words, crimson clover would seem to have the 
least adaptation for those states and provinces that 
are far enough north to grow the medium red clover 
at its best. And it would seem to have the highest 
adaptation to localities with weather too warm to 
grow that species of clover at its best. 

Place in the Rotation. — In the rotation crimson 
clover should be grow^n as a catch crop; that is to 
say, it should follow some crop that has been har- 
vested one season, and should precede some crop to 
be grown immediately after the clover the following 
season. The plan of growling it on land that needs 
to be enriched is a wise one, hence it will frequently 
be sown after a grain crop, and before some culti- 
vated crop that does not of necessity require to be 
planted early the following season. Crimson clover 
is, therefore, commonly grown without missing a 
crop. Not infrequently it is sown annually in 
orchards that are in bearing, and plowed under to 
feed the fruit trees from year to year. 

Soil. — Crimson clover grows best on a warm 
soil ; that is to say, on a soil of open texture and with 
good drainage. It has special adaptation, therefore, 
to loam soils with a free admixture of sand in them. 
But if the clover is to grow vigorously on these soils 
it is necessary, first, that moisture shall be present in 
the growing season ; and, second, that sufficient fer- 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 9I 

tility shall be present in the soil or supplied to it to 
give the clover a good start. The average prairie 
soils do not seem to furnish the proper food con- 
stituents, and in stiff clay soils the roots of the clover 
cannot gather food with sufficient haste. 

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for 
crimson clover much will depend upon the condi- 
tions. When sown amid corn or cotton the cultiva- 
tion given to these crops is a sufficient preparation 
of the soil. After potatoes and early market garden 
crops, cultivating and then harrowing the ground 
should put it in good condition to receive the seed. 
When sown after grain, success has followed simply 
harrowing the land, and in other instances first cul- 
tivating and then harrowing it ; but more commonly 
there is hazard in sowing it thus. In orchards in full 
bearing the cultivation that is usually given to the 
trees is a sufficient preparation. In preparing the soil 
the aim should be to secure a fine and moist seed bed, 
hence when the land is plowed in making it ready for 
crimson clover, a free use should be made of the 
roller and harrow, unless peculiar conditions, as ex- 
cessive rainfall, should render this work unnecessary. 

Solving. — Crimson clover seed is more gen- 
erally sown from July ist to October ist, according 
to the locality. Ordinarily the more southerly the 
latitude the later may the seed be sown without the 
hazard of being winterkilled. If sown in the early 
spring the growth made is seldom satisfactory, and 
the presence of the clover hinders the growing of 
another crop the same season. The seed is sown by 
the same methods as other kinds of clover seed ; that 
is to say, it may be broadcasted by hand or other- 
wise and covered with the harrow, or it may be sown 



92 FORAGE CROPS. 

with a grain drill that will properly do such work, or 
it may be dropped with the grass seeder attachment 
to the grain drill, as, for instance, when it is sown 
with a nurse crop. 

Ordinarily the seed of crimson clover is not 
sown with a nurse crop, but sometimes it is sown 
with cowpeas. When thus sown the soil is more 
commonly infertile, and the peas are grown to pro- 
tect the clover plants in the winter after the frost 
has killed the cowpeas. When sown with winter 
oats or winter rye the clover is prone to crowd these 
crops, as it continues to grow in weather too cool to 
admit of growth in the oats or the rye. On some 
soils these results will be reversed. But judicious 
pasturing should prevent injury from this source. 
When rape is sown with the crimson clover it should 
be early in the season rather than late, so that both 
plants would have time to make a good growth and 
thus furnish fall pasture ; and if the rape survived the 
winter the two plants could be pastured again 
in the spring. 

The amount of seed to sow w^ill vary with sev- 
eral conditions. When sown as the sole crop, more 
than fifteen pounds per acre of the clover seed should 
not be required, and usually less than that amount 
will suffice. Heavy seeding is to be preferred when 
the clover is to be plowed under as a fertilizer. When 
sown as part of a mixed crop to provide pasture, a 
few pounds of the clover seed per acre will suffice. 
The grower can best learn by his ow^n or by his 
neighbor's experience how to adapt the quantities of 
the respective seeds used to the soil conditions. 

Cultivation. — No cultivation is ordinarily 
required on crimson clover. But there may be 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 93 

instances when the harrow can be used upon it with 

advantage. 

Pasturing. — Although crimson clover has been 
grown more as a fertilizer than to provide pasture, 
its mission in furnishing pasture and also soihng 
food is an important one. When the strength of 
the clover growing alone or in combination with 
other crops will justify so doing, it should of course 
be pastured, but not so closely as to endanger its 
passing the winter safely. Any kind of domestic 
animals upon the farm may be grazed upon it. It 
furnishes pasture early in the spring and in bounti- 
ful supply. Sheep have been pastured on it early in 
the season, and after they were removed a good crop 
of seed has been reaped. Such pasturing is favor- 
able to seed production when the crop is likely to be 
too rank. It may also be pastured with much advan- 
tage by sheep or swine when it is grown in orchards. 
The fertility produced by the crop will all be returned 
to the land when it is thus pastured. 

Observations. — i. After a crop of seed has been 
harvested, another crop of clover can be obtained in 
some instances by simply harrowing or otherwise 
stirring the soil. 

2. When sheep or swine are used in pasturing 
an orchard, the trees may be protected from injury 
by inclosing the trunks m wire netting. To hinder 
the sheep, however, from eating the fruit on the 
lower limbs that droop is practically impossible. 

ALFALFA OR LUCERN. 

Alfalfa or Lucern (Mcdicago sativa) is a won- 
derful food plant. No other plant grown in the 



94 FORAGE CROPS. 

United States or Canada will furnish so much valu- 
able food for so long a term of years without re-seed- 
ing. There are some alfalfa fields on this continent 
that have produced several good crops a year for 
more than forty years, and, judging by the indica- 
tions, they will continue to do so for many years 
longer. But those fields have been irrigated from 
year to year. However, there are instances on 
record wherein alfalfa has produced good crops for 
a long term of years wdien not irrigated. It is not 
so valuable relatively in providing pasture as forage, 
although wnth judicious management it can also be 
turned to good account in furnishing pasture, at 
least under some conditions. 

Alfalfa is of course a perennial. It growls up 
rapidly in the early spring, and when the plants 
attain a hight of one to two feet or more, they pro- 
duce bluish purple flowers. As soon as the plants 
reach the blossoming stage the stems rapidly become 
woody, hence it is necessary to use much promptness 
in cutting the crop for hay, or in pasturing it off in 
the early part of the season. When cut or eaten 
dow^n, other stems come out from the basil root and 
more numerously, until the plants reach full size, 
which they do in three or four years. These stems 
grow very rapidly, hence the number of crops that 
may be reaped in one season is sometimes as high as 
six to eight. It sends a taproot down to a con- 
siderable depth into the soil. Under very favorable 
conditions this taproot is ten to twelve feet long, 
but usually it does not go down much beyond half 
that distance. This accounts for the great ability 
of the plant to withstand dry weather when once it 
has firmly intrenched itself in the soil. 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 95 

The idea that it will not be worth while to grow 
alfalfa where medium red clover is at its best would 
seem to be of the fog}^ order, although it has been 
promulgated by some good authorities. As a rota- 
tion plant it is not to be compared with clover, but 
even where medium clover has proved a great suc- 
cess, there may be good reasons for growing alfalfa 
to provide soiling food and also pasture. 

Distribution. — Alfalfa can be grown with more 
or less success in every state of the Union, and in a 
number of the provinces of Canada. But it has 
especial adaptation for those states where the tem- 
peratures are too warm and the conditions are too 
dry to grow clover at its best. Speaking in a general 
way, the highest adaptation for alfalfa culture is 
found in those states that lie south of the Missouri 
river, including the lands drained by that river, and 
west from the Mississippi where it is joined by the 
Missouri. Next to these states in adaptation may 
be placed those areas that lie south of the Ohio and 
between the Mississippi and the Atlantic. And after 
these in adaptation come various localities in the 
other states where the measure of success attained 
in growing the crop is usually more dependent on 
soil conditions than on those which relate to climate. 
There is probably no state in the Union in which 
alfalfa may not be successfully grown. In Louisi- 
ana it has been made to provide green food every 
day in the year. As far north as Toronto, in Onta- 
rio, and Montreal, in Quebec, good crops of alfalfa 
have been grown. But in the northern portions of 
North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, 
the low winter temperature will probably prove a 
barrier to its cultivation. Elsewhere in the United 



96 FORAGE CROPS. 

States it will endure tlie winters as far north as the 
Canadian boundary. It is not likely to succeed in 
the Canadian provinces that lie between Lake Supe- 
rior and the Rocky mountains, but on the Pacific 
slopes of British Columbia there should be no diffi- 
culty in growing it when the soils are suitable. 

Place in the Rotation. — As alfalfa is usually 
sown with the intention of allowing it to remain 
undisturbed by the plow for several years, it will be 
readily apparent that it is not a good rotation crop. 
In fact, it can only be used in very long rotations 
when thus grown. But as it is sometimes sown to 
provide hay and pasture along with medium, mam- 
moth, or alsike clover, it may be used in rotations of 
limited duration, in conjunction with one or more 
of these plants. When thus grown the rotation may 
be the same as that adopted in growing these clo- 
vers; that is to say, it may, with much propriety, 
follow a cultivated crop in order to obtain a clean 
seed bed on which to sow it. And it ought to be 
followed by some crop that wants much nitrogen to 
perfect it, as corn or one of the cereals. As alfalfa 
is a somewhat delicate plant the first year, it is 
important that it shall be sown on clean ground 
where the weeds will not be likely to smother it. 

Soil. — The soil best suited to the growth of 
alfalfa w^ill be measurably dependent on the moisture 
that can be furnished to it in the form of rain, 
through surface irrigation or from a subterranean 
source. Loose, sandy loam soils rich in certain 
elements of ])lant food, particularly lime, phosphoric 
acid and potash, are usually regarded as the most 
suitable for alfalfa. These soils should be deep in 
character and should lie on sandy or gravelly sub- 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 97 

soils, that is to say, subsoils which consist of fine 
gravel intermixed with sand. Such soils are emi- 
nently adapted for growing alfalfa when water is 
plentifully supplied from the clouds, from irrigating 
ditches, or from the water table in the subsoil. This 
water table must not be too near the surface, or the 
root growth will be hindered to the great injury of 
the plants ; nor must it be too far from the surface, 
or it will fail to reach the plants in sufficient quan- 
tity. When water cannot be supplied from ditches 
or from a subterranean source, and when the sum- 
mer climate is dry in character, it will be found that 
alfalfa will grow best in soils that are underlaid with 
mild, porous clay subsoils, which the roots can easily 
penetrate. If grown under those conditions, if the 
subsoil were sand or gravel, the plants would not 
obtain sufficient moisture. The best soils probably 
in the United States for growing alfalfa when amply 
supplied with water are the volcanic ash soils, allu- 
vial in character, that are found in the valleys west 
and southwest of the Missouri river. The sandy 
soils of the states south and southeast of the Ohio 
are not usually rich enough to produce maximum 
crops without being fertilized. The soils of the 
upper Mississippi basin, with exceptions somewhat 
numerous, do not seem to have the proper food ele- 
ments. In other localities, particularly in states 
north and east of the Ohio, are stretches of hardpan 
subsoil, which forbid the growth of alfalfa. And 
in all soils where the water table comes near the sur- 
face at any time in the year, alfalfa cannot be suc- 
cessfully grown. 

Preparing the soil. — When alfalfa is to be laid 
down for a term of years, it is important that the 

7 



98 FORAGE CROPS. 

land on which it is sown shall first be well cleaned, 
either by summer fallowing it, or, what would be 
better, by growing- some crop on it that is given 
clean cultivation. It is also important that the 
ground shall be plowed deeply in preparing it for 
the alfalfa, or, what would be better perhaps, in pre- 
paring it for the cultivated crop that is to precede 
the alfalfa. Subsoiling the land will usually be 
found a good investment. But this should never be 
done by running the ordinary plow twice in the same 
furrow, except in soils that are as rich in available 
plant focxl in the under furrow slice as in the upper 
one. Otherwise the plants from the newly sown 
alfalfa may not be able to get food enough to pro- 
duce a vigorous growth when they are young. But 
when alfalfa is sown along with other plants to 
provide pasture, it is not so necessary to have 
the land in such a perfect condition of prepara- 
tion, owing to the limited period during w^hich 
it will be grown. 

Sozving. — The time for sowing alfalfa varies 
much with the locality. It should not be sown in 
the winter or in the summer. In the northern half 
of the republic it is usually sown in the early spring, 
as soon as the ground has become warm, and the 
danger from severe frosts is past. In the southern 
half thereof it is sowai in the autumn and also 
in the spring. When sown in the autumn, suffi- 
cient time should be given to the young plants 
to make enough growth to enable them to pass 
the winter safely, with its frequent periods of trying- 
temperatures. 

The method of sowing is by no means uniform. 
\Micn alfalfa is sown as the sole crop, there is no 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. 99 

better way of putting it into the soil than by sowing 
it with a seed drill of proper construction. But 
oftentimes it is broadcasted. When thus broad- 
casted, it may be advantageously covered with a light 
harrow, with the teeth straight or aslant, with the 
roller alone, or with the roller followed by the 
harrow, according to the nature of the soil. When 
sown with a nurse crop, as, for instance, a thin seed- 
ing of oats to be cut for hay at the earing stage, the 
alfalfa seed is likely to be sufficiently covered if it 
'has been sown by any process in front of the drill 
tubes. And the same is true of other seeds, as clo- 
ver and timothy, sown along with the alfalfa. But 
sometimes it is further necessary to roll the land, 
and, it may be, to harrow it with a light harrow, the 
teeth being set at a backward slant. When sown 
on some of the weedy lands of the south, it has 
been found profitable to deposit the seed in rows 
and to keep the plants clean the first year by 
cultivation. 

To provide pasture, alfalfa is sometimes sown 
in short rotations along with one or more varieties 
of clover and timothy. The author has thus grown 
it with no little success in Ontario. And there may 
be other combinations in which it can be successfully 
grown under some conditions. 

When alfalfa is grown to furnish hay, thick 
seeding is recommended, not less than twenty pounds 
per acre, and in some instances more than that 
amount, that the stand of the hay may be of fine 
growth. This will reduce the waste in feeding the 
hay. To provide seed or winter pasture, it should 
be sown less thickly, about fifteen pounds per acre 
is considered sufficient. When sown along with 

LoCC. 



lOO FORAGE CROPS. 

clovers and timothy, the following combination is 
a good one, viz. : — 

Per acre 

Alfalfa 4 lbs 

Medium clover 2 lbs 

Mammoth " 2 lbs 

Alsike 1 lb 

Timothy 3 lbs 

Total 12 lbs 

Cultivation. — When alfalfa is sown in rows and 
cultivated the first season, as is sometimes practiced 
in the south and elsewhere, the cultivation may be 
given with the hand hoe or horse cultivator, or with 
both, according to the distance between the rows 
and to the necessity for hand labor. AMien the 
plants have reached the hight of three or four inches, 
and the ground has become encrusted on the sur- 
face, a light harrow judiciously passed over the crop 
will help it materially. When sown without a nurse 
crop and the land becomes weedy, as it does in nearly 
all instances, the mower should be run over the 
alfalfa once, or more frequently, during the first sea- 
son, as occasion may require. And the vegetation 
thus cut off should be allowed to fall as a mulch for 
the crop, unless there should be special reasons for 
removing it. 

If grown dependent upon irrigation, the water 
should be applied the first year as needed, but not 
less than two or three times. After the first year 
the water should be applied in the spring and after 
each cutting, but not when the alfalfa is going into 
the winter. Irrigating waters should never be 
allowed to stand on alfalfa for a longer period than 
forty-eight hours at a time. 

Pasturing. — Alfalfa may be made to furnish 
excellent pasture for horses, cattle, sheep and swine, 



PLANTS OF THE CLOVER FAMILY. lOI 

but the pasturing must not be done in an indiscrimi- 
nate manner. It ought not to be pastured at any 
and every stage of growth, nor at all seasons of the 
year. It should seldom, if ever, be pastured off the 
season that it is sown. It is somewhat of a delicate 
plant when young, hence it is easily injured the first 
season. Neither should it be pastured in the late 
autumn nor during the winter in cold latitudes. 
.Such pasturing would likely prove fatal to the 
alfalfa, hence probably the prevalent opinion that it 
cannot be pastured at all in the winter season. Pas- 
turing sheep on alfalfa is attended with the greatest 
hazard to the plant, because of their habit of crop- 
ping plants closely. Most satisfactory results are ob- 
tained from pasturing horses and swnne upon alfalfa. 

Horses and swine can be pastured on it at any 
season without serious hazard to the animals. The 
plan of pasturing off alfalfa with horses, introduced 
and practiced by Mr. C. H. Larrabee of Home Park, 
Montana, at his Brooknook ranch in that state, 
would seem to be a good one. His alfalfa is irri- 
gated. His first crop is cut for hay. The second 
growth is allowed to remain. Weanling colts which 
are also fed grain are then turned in upon it in the 
autumn. Later, older colts, and still later, horses, 
are grazed upon it, and as spring approaches, cattle 
are turned in to clean up the residue of the pasture. 
The animals are also given alfalfa hay when they 
require it. And ranchmen further to the southwest 
also adopt a somewhat similar mode of wintering 
their cattle. The re-seeding of the ground thus 
every year would seem to maintain a stand, despite 
the depasturing. 

Alfalfa furnishes a grand pasture for swine. 



T02 FORAGE CROPS. 

They may feed upon it through all the growing sea- 
son if supplied with water. They will grow nicely 
on it without other food, but a little grain, as corn, 
for instance, can frequently be fed to advantage. 
Swine pastures should be mowed occasionally to 
secure a plentiful supply of tender and succu- 
lent alfalfa. 

If cattle and sheep are pastured on alfalfa when 
it is in a succulent condition, and more especially 
when wet with dew or rain, the alfalfa is liable to 
produce hoven or bloat, unless the animals have 
partaken of other food before being allowed to graze 
on the alfalfa. Sometimes they may be pastured for 
a whole season without harm ; at other times the loss 
is serious. But when the alfalfa is growing amid 
other grasses, the danger from this source is much 
lessened. 

Observations. — i. Alfalfa may be sown with 
much propriety in permanent pastures when the con- 
ditions will admit of it. Its continuity in them will 
depend upon such conditions as the nature of the 
soil, the encroaching character of the other grasses, 
and the closeness of the pasturing. 

2. One acre of alfalfa will furnish pasture to 
from ten to twenty hogs through the entire season 
of growth, dependent, of course, upon the age of the 
hogs and the conditions relating to growth in 
the pasture. 



CHAPTER VL 

LEGUMINOUS PLANTS OTHER THAN CLOVER. 

Chief among the leguminous plants other than 
rlover that have heretofore been grown on this con- 
tinent to provide forage are the field pea, the com- 
mon vetch, the cowpea and the soy bean. The field 
pea and the common vetch have hitherto been grown 
chiefly in Canada, and to a less extent in the United 
States that borders on Canada. But during recent 
years the vetch crop of the states of Oregon and 
Washington is assuming proportions of some mag- 
nitude. The sand vetch has been grown in a tenta- 
tive way in various parts of the United States, and 
the cowpea and the soy bean have been grown in 
the southern states and to a less extent in those that 
are central. The peas and vetches are all of a more 
or less trailing habit of growth. The soy bean has 
more of the bush form. All of these have been 
found excellent food plants in the localities which 
have special adaptation for growing them. 

THE FIELD PEA. 

The field pea (Pisuni sativum) is of many vari- 
eties. These are variously distinguished, as by the 
length and strength of the straw, the more or less 
trailing habit of the growth, the size and number of 
the pods, the size of the peas and the relative number 

103 



I04 



FORAGE CROPS. 







Fig. 14. Eight Plants of Green Field Pea. 

Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. IO5 

in each pod, the color of the blossoms and the color 
and shape of the peas. 

In the United States, peas are usually spoken 
of as ''Canada field peas," whatever the variety may 
be. The term is a misnomer, for many varieties of 
field peas are grown there which did not originate in 
Canada (Fig. 14). Under the supervision of the 
author, more than eighty varieties of field peas were 
grown at the Ontario experiment station at Guelph 
In 1893, only a very few of which were first grown 
in Canada. The term originated probably in the 
fact that the earlier importations of seed peas into 
this country came chiefly from Canada. 

The field pea, as is generally known, is of an 
upright habit of growth until it reaches a certain 
hight from the ground, more or less according to 
the presence or absence of wind and rain. Then it 
falls over unless sustained by other grain sown alon"g 
with it, and it completes its growth in a recumbent 
position. It is this trailing habit of growth that 
renders it unsuitable for being grown alone to pro- 
vide pasture for any kind of live stock except swine. 
And it is because of this habit of growth that the pea 
is usually sown along with one or the other of the 
cereals to provide pasture for sheep. 

In Ontario a very large area is sown with peas 
every year. These are grown chiefly for the grain 
food which they furnish, but also for the winter fod- 
der obtained from the straw when cured. And in 
Ontario and some parts of the United States they 
are being somewhat freely grown in combination 
with other grain to provide soiling food for sum- 
mer use and fodder in the unthreshed form for win- 
ter feeding. Peas are also sown along with oats or 



Io6 FORAGE CROPS. 

Other grain to furnish pasture for sheep and swine. 
The peas improve the quahty of the pasture because 
of the rich flesh-forming and milk-producing food 
which they furnish. But when thus grown it should 
be on lands with special adaptation for growing the 
peas, otherwise the cereal grown along with the peas 
is likely to crowd them. Such pastures are not so 
well adapted for being grazed down by horses and 
cattle, because of the greater injury which they cause 
the peas through treading. But it is when sown 
alone that peas are more commonly grown as a pas- 
ture for swine. This chapter will consider only the 
growing of peas for pasture, although it may be 
mentioned here that the process of growing peas for 
swine forage is essentially the same as when grow- 
ing them for the grain. 

Distribution. — Peas usually succeed best in a 
cool and also in a moist climate in which the summer 
temperatures are not extreme in their variations and 
where the nights are cool. But a moderately cool 
and even temperature is more important relatively 
than moisture in the air, otherwise certain of the 
Montana and other Rocky mountain valleys would 
not be able to grow peas with and without irrigation 
according to the locality, and in such magnificent 
form. Hot and dry climates are ill adapted to the 
growing of peas, and more especially where winds 
hot and dry are apt to prevail at that season of the 
year when the peas are coming into bloom. At such 
a time intense heat of the sun or the warm breath of 
continued hot winds would hinder the blossoms from 
producing pods and grain in tlie perfection of devel- 
opment, and if sufificiently prolonged the vines would 
shrivel and wither without fruiting at all. 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. IO7 

Peas may be grown as a grain crop with marked 
success in nearly all the tillable portions of the United 
States and Canada above the 45th parallel of 
north latitude, that is to say, in all places north of 
the latitude of Bangor, in Maine, St. Paul, in Minne- 
sota, and Salem, in Oregon. They can also be 
grown quite as successfully in some localities two or 
three degrees south of this parallel, from the Atlantic 
to the Mississippi and also in Oregon on the Pacific 
slope. And in some localities much further south it 
is very probable that peas can be grown in good form 
where the altitude is sufficient. 

The highest adaptation for peas grown without 
irrigation is probably found in the states of Wash- 
ington and Oregon and in British Columbia, on the 
slopes nearest to the sea (Fig. 15). The highest 
adaptation when grown under irrigation is probably 
found in the inland valleys of Montana, Idaho, 
Washington, Wyoming and Colorado. The most 
general adaptation in any one state or province is 
probably found in Ontario, with Michigan and Wis- 
consin close seconds. And the highest adaptation 
on the prairies is probably found in North Dakota, 
northern Minnesota and Manitoba. 

But peas can be grown successfully for forage 
and soiling food much further south than the line 
drawn as the southern limit of highest production of 
grain. This is more especially true when the peas 
are grown in combination with other grain. When 
grown thus for pasture, the grain, of course, is not 
considered, and when grown for soiling food it is 
not so important relatively as when the peas are 
grown for the fodder. 

Place in the Rotation. — If a crop of peas is 



(^S 



FORAGE CROPS. 




^A 




# 









-«,)» 





















A' 



lr»» 







c 

I 

c 

!c 



be 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. IO9 

grown until mature (jn a piece of land and then har 
vested, the land will contain more nitrogen than 
before the peas were sown on it. It is evident, there- 
fore, that the pea should be grown with an eye to 
preparing the land for a crop that requires much 
nitrogen, as, for instance, a crop of wheat or other 
cereal, or a crop of corn. It is also evident that it can 
be grown successfully on soils lower in plant food 
than would suffice to produce a maximum crop of any 
one of the cereals, at least so far as concerns the pres- 
ence of nitrogen in the soil. If the ground is prop- 
erly prepared it may be successfully grown on land 
that is foul with certain forms of weed life, as, for 
instance, annuals. But peas should not be grown 
on land infested with certain perennials, such as the 
Canada thistle. 

Theoretically, peas should not be sown on over- 
turned sod. It is commonly considered better prac- 
tice to give these lands up to other grain crops, as 
oats, because of the abundance of the vegetable mat- 
ter which they contain. Notwithstanding, peas 
grow handsomely on such land, the other conditions 
being right, owing probably to the moisture which 
is held for the peas by the grass roots as they decay, 
and they put sod lands in excellent condition for 
being followed with a cereal crop. Peas may be 
succeeded with much advantage if grown alone by 
winter wheat or rye, w^here the former can with- 
stand the rigors of the winter. When followed by 
one or the other of these crops, the land requires 
only to be disked in preparing it, unless the soil 
should be foul with weed life. 

Soil. — The best soil for peas is a mild, porous 
and moist clay loam, free from superfluous water 



I lO FORAGE CROPS. 

in the soil or subsoil during all stages of the growth 
of the plants. Sandy loams are good if moist, but 
not so good as clay loams. Peas will grow fairly 
well on stiff, unyielding clays, but not so quickly as 
on clay loams. Dry, sandy and gravelly lands defi- 
cient in moisture are poor pea lands. The black 
humus soils of the prairie are prone to grow too 
much straw for good yields of the grain. But this 
is not objectionable when the peas are grown for 
sheep forage along with other grain, or to provide 
soiling food. And muck lands are ill adapted to 
growing peas for pasture or for the grain, since the 
vines run chiefly to straw. While peas are rather 
easily injured by drouth, if the soil on which they 
are growing should be saturated with water for any 
considerable time during their development, it would 
be fatal to the growing of the peas. 

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for 
peas, the aim should be, first, to plow the land in the 
autumn unless where there are good reasons for not 
doing so; second, to plow it deeply; and, third, to 
make a fine seed bed. In localities where the win- 
ters are long, open and rainy, the land should not be 
plowed in the fall. Nor is it necessary when the 
peas are broadcasted and then plowed under. When 
sod is plowed for peas, and more especially if it is 
plowed for them in the spring, the furrow slices 
should be narrow and laid at an angle of about 
forty-five degrees. When peas are broadcasted on 
land thus prepared, they fall down in the depres- 
sions between the cone or crest of the respective 
furrow slices. And when in covering the seed the 
harrow is run straight along these furrow slices and 
at one or two different angles over them, it drags 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. Ill 

down the earth into the depressions and in this way 
covers the seed. If the sod were turned over in 
broad furrow shoes and left in a flat state, it would 
be necessary to use the disk cultivator to make a 
proper seed bed. 

It is not common to manure the land for peas, 
but manure will be very helpful on poor land. Farm- 
yard manures are nearly always in order. When 
commercial fertilizers are to be used, phosphoric 
acid and potash are likely to be more helpful than 
nitrogen. 

Solving the Seed. — When peas and oats are 
sown for sheep pasture, about three bushels of the 
combined mixture should be sown, but for some 
soils a less quantity will suffice. About equal parts 
by measure of each kind of seed should be used, but 
there may be reasons for varying these proportions ; 
as, for instance, when the oats grow more vigorously 
than the peas it would be necessary to increase the 
proportion of the pea seed sown. The small varie- 
ties of field peas should be preferred, as they produce 
more forage. The seed may be mixed and sown 
with the drill, taking care to bury it deeply, as deep 
as three to four inches. Sometimes the peas are 
first sown broadcast and the land is then plowed, as 
deeply on light prairie soils as four to six inches, 
and then the oats are drilled in less deeply. But on 
the whole, the first method is to be preferred when 
it is the proper thing to plow the land in the fall for 
the reasons, first, that the moisture is better con- 
served ; second, that the labor is less, and, third, that 
the harrowing subsequently given by way of cultiva- 
tion may be more thorough than when the oats are 
planted less deeply. And here it may be mentioned 



112 FORACE CROPS. 

that on firm st)ils wliorc ihcrc is usually ample rain- 
fall it is not necessary to sow peas so deeply. 

When peas are sown to furnish food for swine, 
the method is no way different from that of growing 
I hem for the grain. Not less than two bushels of 
the seed of the small varieties should be sown per 
acre, and not nu^re than throe and one-half bushels 
of the large varieties. All things considered, the 
small varieties are to be preferred. The aim shcnild 
be to sow the peas with the drill, and as in sowing 
them for sheep pasture, to bury them deeply. Of 
course they can be broadcasted and i)lowed under, 
but the same objections will apply as when peas are 
sown thus to provide sheep pasture. Peas should 
nexer be broadcasted and covered simply with the 
harrow, excei)t on sod land, the narrow furrow slices 
of which are laid up as described in the preceding 
secti(Mi, or, in other words, as sod furrows are usu- 
ally turned over by Ontario i)l(nvnion. But it may 
be admissible sometimes to disk in peas on proj^erly 
prepared land, \\1ien covered with the harrow st^ne 
of the seed remains unburied, and if dry weather 
should follow, the peas will suffer much more than if 
they had l)ccn buried deeply. This one factor alone 
may make the difference between success and failure. 

Peas sown for the grain they will produce, for 
sheep pasture and for swine forage, had better be 
sown as early as the land can be worked nicely in the 
spring. But for the two purposes last named, there 
may be good reasons f(^r sowing them later, and as 
a rule the roller should follow the seed drill. 

Culfri'ati)if^. — The (Mily cultivatic^n required by 
peas s(nvn for sheep pasture or fov swine forage is 
a thoroui?"h harrowin<?-. This should be given to 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. II3 

tlicm before the seed appears above ground. It is 
not necessary that the harrow teeth shall go deeply 
into the ground. It is better that tlity should not 
do so, but the surface of the ground should be aM 
stirred, even though the harrow shfmld have to be 
driven angle wise across the field after the first har- 
rowing to accomplish the end sought. When the 
surface of the soil is thus stirred, the weeds that 
have sprouted are likely to die, and before they are 
up again the peas are likely to be away ahead of 
them. The stirring of the soil also enables it the 
better to hold the moisture. But there may be rea- 
sons where such harrowing cannot be done because 
of an excess of moisture. So much the worse will 
it be, then, for the pea crop. 

Pasturing. — When peas and oats are pastured 
by sheep, they may l)e turned in to graze them down 
when they are from six to ten inches high. The 
sheep should not be allowed to pasture on them, 
fc;r various reasons, when they are wet. If, when 
the pasture is grazed down, the sheep are shut away 
frcm it, the grain will soon spring up again, and vig- 
orously in moist weather, and will therefore furnish 
pasture a second time, and even a third time under 
some conditions. Peas and oats furnish an excel- 
lent and a safe pasture for sheep and lambs. It is 
excellent because of its marked palatability, because 
of the amount which it furnishes, and because of its 
timeliness. It comes in at a season when much milk 
is wanted for the lambs, and much milk is sure to 
be the outcome if the dams are grazed upon this pas- 
ture when it is succulent. And it is safe because 
no ill efifects may be expected from pasturing the 
sheep upon it. 
8 



114 FORAGE CROPS. 

If the pasture should i^row so fast that the 
slieep could uot properly utilize it, the residue could 
he made into hay. l^it when so used, the sheep 
should he removed from the pasture some time ])re- 
vious to cutting- the crop for fodder. And when 
the crop is jxastured for a time and the second growth 
is made into hay, it will furnish the finest of hay; 
since the effect of the first pasturing is to cause the 
grain to stool out more than it (Otherwise w^ould. As 
a result the hay will he finer. But there may he 
instances in which the yield of the second grow^th 
would he very light, as on heavy and poor soils in 
a dry season. And it should not he forgotten that 
if the oats are allowed to joint, or the peas to form 
miniature huds for bh^ssoming before they are 
grazed down, their power to grow subsequently will 
he greatly lessened. 

Peas are usually ])asture(l by swine before they 
are matured, or after they are matured. When pas- 
tured before the peas are ripe, it is common to begin 
when the seeds are abcnit ready t(^ c(x^k, and to con- 
tinue the grazing until the peas are ripe or until they 
are all consumed. If the swdne are turned in to 
glean at the stage indicated, they eat also of 
the green portions of the vine, hence the waste 
of straw is much less if the gleaning can be all 
done while the peas are not yet (|uite ripe. This 
can be accomplished when the patch or field is not 
too large. 

Swine sIkhiIcI not be turned into a field of peas 
green or ripe and left there for a long period at the 
first. There is danger that the green peas wnll 
derange the digestion and that the ripe peas will 
swell in the stomach so as to cause death throu£rh its 

o 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. II5 

undue distension. But after a time the swine may 
fcjrage upon them at will. 

When foraj^ing upon ripe peas the swine should 
not have a larger area to feed upon than they can 
consume within a reasonahle time, otherwise the 
])eas may waste much, especially in showery weather. 
The straw will, of course, be a total loss so far as 
its food value may be concerned, and yet there are 
areas where the lands are so cheap as to justify the 
practice. The straw can be burned or plowed under. 
In several of the Rocky mountain valleys, peas may 
be grown as ])asture for swine in conjunction with 
alfalfa. The swine can be grown chiefly on alfalfa 
and then finished on peas, and with great profit to 
the grower. The swine gather the food for 
themselves. 

Autumn pasture may also be furnished for 
swine when moisture is present, by deferring the 
burning of the straw or plowing the field so pas- 
tured. The shelled jjeas that have been trodden into 
the ground by the feet of the swine will quickly grow 
up and furnish excellent green pasture. But such 
pasture should not be sought for on stiff clays, lest 
the pasturing should lead to serious impaction of 
the land. 

THE COMMON VETCH. 

The common vetch (Vicia sativa) has not been 
extensively grown on our continent, even where the 
adaptation for it is all that could be desired. vSo 
little attention has been given to it that its merits as 
a food for live stock are understood and appreciated 
by only a very small percentage of those engaged 
in agriculture. 



IK) J'DUAi.l'. c K(»1'S. 

The vetch is iA several species. But two of 
these, however, would seem to ha\e heen m"»>wn lt> 
any very great extent hy the inhahitants of Ani^io- 
vSaxon speakini;' countries. These are the eouuuon 
vetch ami the sand vetch, and they are the only 
kinds that will he included in the i)resent discussion. 
rhe\' will he considered separately, hecanse ol the 
distinctixe dilTerences in their hahits ^A i;rowth and 
also in general atlaptahility. 

The coninu^n \etch includes the suh-\'arieties 
known as winter ami sprini;- vetches, respectixely. 
These would seem to ha\e sprung- from one and the 
same \ariety. The dilTerences which now charac- 
terize them ha\e prohahly heen hroui^ht ahout hy the 
dilTereiU season at which they ha\e heen sown. The 
lormer have hest adaptatii>n for climates where the 
w inters are mild. The latter, thoui^h hest adapted 
to climates w ith cool summer temperatures, will also 
L^row reasonahly well in warm climates if sown earl\' 
eimui^h in the season. 

The common \etch hears no little resemhlance 
to the ccMumon pea in its hahits o\' ^rowth. Hut the 
\etch is more slender, has more tendrils and leaves, 
the Icaxes are more serrated, it hears its pods rather 
in clusters than sini^l)' or in pairs, and it i^r(n\s more 
persistently when ionized or eaten ofT hy h\c stock 
at any time previous to maturity. The seed is als(^ 
smaller and is of a brown or hlack color. The flow- 
ers are purple. 

\ etches or tares, as they are sometimes called, 
are much relished hy live stock n\ all classes, and 
there are hut few kiutls oi focnl that are e(|uallv suit- 
able for the animals of the farm. They are excel- 
lent for milk production and their fattening- proper- 



LEGUMINOUS I'LANTS. liy 

ties are of a lii^li order. Hicy have special ada])ta- 
tir)M for l)ciii^ ^rovvn alon^ with other grain to 
])r()du(:c soihng food, and they may be made to ren- 
der excellent service in pnjviding pasture for live 
stock, especially shee]) and swine. But when grown 
for hay, for soiling food or for ]>asture, vetches 
should be sown with some cereal grain to sustain 
them, because of their trailing habit of growth. 

Distribution. — The distribution of the common 
vetch of the spring sub-variety is much the same as 
that of tlie field ])ea. l>ut since the vetch can endure 
cold even better than the ])ea, the limit of its growth 
for forage lies further north, and because of its abil- 
ity to withstand cold, a crop of spring vetches can 
be sown early enfnigh in the Gulf states to be pas- 
tured off or cut for soiling food in time to be fol- 
lowed by some other croj). 

The common s))ring vetch, notwithstanding its 
ability to withstand cold, has Imt little ability to 
endure extreme heat, hence in climates with hf;t 
summer tem])eratures it would seem to have no 
mission as a forage i)lant unless in the springtime. 
It would be ill ada])ted, therefore, to localities with 
severe winters and h(jt summers, such as are found 
in the u])])er Mississii)pi basin and the river basins 
tributary to the upi)er Mississip])i. And since the 
winter vetch would be ready for grazing much ear- 
lier in states with mild winters, it would seem to be 
wiser, therefore, in these latitudes to grow the winter 
rather than the spring sub-variety. 

Since the commrm s])ring vetch needs moist 
weather as well as cool to perfect its growth, the 
highest arlaptation for this plant will probably be 
found on the Pacific slopes of Oregon, Washington 



Il8 FORAGE CROPS. 

and British Columbia. Next in point of adaptation 
should come the maritime provinces of Canada and 
the New EnHand states, and after these states and 
provinces, Quebec, Ontario, New York and the 
northern parts of Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin and 
North Dakota, also Manitoba. While spring vetches 
can be grown further south, as stated, the hot 
weather of summer is against them. 

The highest adaptation for the winter vetch 
will also be found probably in the Pacific coast states 
which have been mentioned as possessed of highest 
adaptation for the spring vetch. This is owing to 
the mildness of the winters, linked with the mod- 
erate and moist summer temperatures. Next to 
these should come the Gulf states. How far north 
the winter vetch will prosper has not yet been 
determined. 

Place in the Rotation. — The vetch being- a legu- 
minous plant should be grown as a land renovator. 
The aim should be, therefore, to ofrow it on land that 
had borne cereals. Like the pea, the vetch will grow 
splendidly on overturned sod lands, but such lands 
cannot usually be spared for it. The winter vetch 
may be made to follow a crop that has been 
harvested, because of the late season at which it is 
sown. And in turn, when ])astured off this vetch 
may be followed by some catch crop, as rape, for 
instance, or sorghum, according as the climate is 
favorable to the grow^th of one or the other of these. 
The vetch crop should, as a rule, be followed by 
some cereal. 

Soil. — The common vetch, like the field pea, 
flourishes best in a moist, clay loam soil of free work- 
ing texture. While it will grow most satisfactorily 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I IQ 

in a rich soil, it will grow better relatively in a poor 
soil than field peas. In nearly all respects it is a 
more rug-ged plant than the pea. But very hot suns 
and warm winds will blight the vetch (juite as read- 
ily as the i)ea. 

Preparing the Soil. — When preparing the soil 
for vetches, the pulverization should be fine. For 
spring sown vetches, deep fall plowing is to be pre- 
ferred. For autumn sown vetches the nature of the 
])rcparatory cultivation will de])end somewhat on the 
crcj]) which they follow. The aim should be to have 
the land clean, firm and moist. If the vetch follows 
a hoed crop, as, for instance, early harvested pota- 
toes, it will suffice to disk the ground deeply and to 
smooth it with the harrow. If the cnj]) follows a 
cereal, the land should be ])lowed some time before 
sowing the seed, especially in dry weather, and then 
it ought to be rolled and harrowed with a view to 
enabling it to gather and hold moisture. 

Sowing the Seed. — The spring vetch should be 
sown for forage as early as the ground is dry enough 
to be worked without injury. The winter vetch 
ought to be sown long enough before winter to 
enable it to become firmly established that it may the 
better withstand the rigors of the winter. But it 
will not avail to sow it until there is enough of mois- 
ture in the soil to sprout the seed. The seed may 
be broadcasted, but is better sown with the grain 
drill, either when sown alone or along with other 
seed. It should be buried about as deeply as cereals. 
When sown alone for pasture, four to six pecks of 
seed per acre ought to be enough, but some authori- 
ties recommend an amount considerably larger, on 
the ground that when sown thus thickly the vetches 



IJO FORACl-: CROPS. 

will more effectively smother weeds. When sown 
with a mixed crop, as winter rye or crimson clover, 
the proportion of the vetch seed to he sown mnst 
measnrahly he determined hy the ahility of the land 
to grow one or the tether of the crops named. The 
more aggressive the crop on that particular soil the 
less of it should he sown. Ordinarily, from one to 
two pecks of the vetch seed should suffice to sow in 
a mixed crop, whether of the spring or winter 
variety. The spring vetch is frequently sown with 
some cereal, as oats or harley, to provide pasture. 

Cultivation. — The harrow is prohahly the c^nly 
implement that can henefit the vetch after it has 
hegun io gnnv. As with peas, many of the weeds 
that would otherwise grow in the cn^p may he 
destroyed hy a judicious use of the harnnv hefore 
the vetches get ahove the surface of the grcnmd. 
lUit when such seeds as rape (^r crimson clover are 
sown with the vetches, the harrowing if done at all 
should he done wnth much discrimination, and with 
crimson clover it would i)n>l)a1)ly he hetter not t(^ 
harrow at all. Rut the sowing of plants that would 
easily he injured hy the harrowing could he deferred 
until the vetches were ready to he harrowed. 

Pasturing. — Vetches are more comnnMily 
grazed off hy sheep than hy other classes of li\e 
st(^ck. They are ready io he pastured when several 
inches high. If grown along with cereals, as oats, 
the vetches, like the oats, will come again and 
with equal vigc^r where the conditions are favorahle 
to the growth of the vetches. Care should he tak-en 
not to pasture off autumn vetches too earlv nor too 
closely, lest the winter weather should harm them. 
The extent of such pasturing during the late autumn 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 121 

or early winter months that would be proper in each 
locality cannot be stated here. 

Observations. — i. But few plants grown have 
been found more suitable than the common vetch in 
providing soiling food. It would seem to be equally 
adapted to horses, cows, sheep and swine. 

2. The hay of the common vetch is at least as 
nutritious as clover and it is relished even more, but 
it is easily injured by rain while being cured. 

3. The seed is not commonly fed to live stock, 
but it furnishes an excellent food for them. The 
seed crop is more precarious to grow than that of 
many other farm crops. 

4. It is very probable that the common vetch 
can be utilized with much advantage in growing pas- 
ture for swine in conjunction with clover, but this 
does not seem to have been proved by actual test in 
tlie United States. The seed of both should be 
sown early, and it will probably be found necessary 
to pasture the vetches so closely that they will not 
at any time get beyond the hight of six inches. 

THE SAND VETCH. 

The sand vetch (Vicia villosa) has but recently 
come into prominence in the United States. As yet 
it has been tested in only a few localities, and in a 
majority of instances only in an imperfect way. 
Much caution, therefore, should be observed in dis- 
cussing its merits, and also the various methods of 
growing it, until these become better understood. In 
both respects the author has but little to fall back 
upon save his own limited experience. 

The plants are naturally creeping in their habit 



122 FORAGE CROPS. 

oi i^rowili. \\ lion \oiini;. os))oci;iIly, the tomlrils 
hug" the g"n>uiul cK^soly. Hioy arc liny and spiiulliiii;" 
at first, Init after a time they gTow w ith iniioh \ i!^\>r 
(Fig. lO). On the ciiHivated plat grown at the 
IMinnesota l^niversity experiment station in iSc)/, 
many of tlie plants proilneecl eaeh fn^n eight to ten 
runners, not a few of whieh reaehed the length of 
eighteen to twenty feet, luich oi the runners pri>- 
dneed numerons tentlrils, from, say, three Xo five feet 
in length. These so intertw ined that it was almost 
impossihle to pnll away a single plant entire fn^ii 
the snrronnding mass. When well advaneed in 
growth the runners are tough and ci^nseciuently hard 
to pull asunder hy the animals in eating them. 

Disfribufioii. — llie sand veteh is very hardy 
and is therefore adapted to a wide range of distri- 
bution. It is pretty eertain that it may he gnnvn 
in any part oi the United States, altlunigh only in 
some localities will it be fmnul more profitable than 
the common vetch. Where it cannot endure the 
cold of winter it will nc^t be so profitable as when 
grown under conditions the opposite. It cannot be 
so ])rofitably grown, therefore, in the northern states 
as in those further south. It has never vet survived 
the winter at the Minnesota University experiment 
station, althcnigh the uneaten forage produced by it 
has been injured less by severe frosts prim- to the 
falling of the snow than the forage produced by anv 
other plant grown at the station. It will doubtless 
equal the common winter vetch in hardihood, and 
therefore can be grown in latitudes adapted to the 
growth of the former. It shcnild survive the win- 
ters, speaking in a general way. in legalities south of 
the 40th parallel of north latitude, and also in some 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 



1^3 



3 



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it 

3 

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o 

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T. a 




124 ■ FORAGE CROPS. 

localities several degrees north of that line. In 
Canada its cnltivation is not likely to prove 
profitable. 

Place in the Rotation. — Since the sand vetch is 
a legnme, and since it would seem to be more suitable 
in providing pasture than for any other use, it 
should usually be grown between two crops of grain, 
.as when thus grown it has a cleaning and also a reno- 
vating influence upon the land. 

Soil. — As the name would indicate, the sand 
vetch has special adaptation for sandy soils. It 
would seem to have a decided capacity to grow on 
light sands too poor to produce good crops of the 
common vetch, the cowpea or crimson clover. But 
it will, of course, grow more vigorously on a better 
class of soils. 

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for 
the sand vetch the aim should be to secure a fine seed 
bed. It is not usually difficult to do so on light soils, 
Init such soils should also be firmed by running the 
roller over them before sowing the seed. In some 
of the southern states the seed of the sand vetch 
may be sown on stubble land irom which grain 
crops have been removed and then covered with 
the harrow. 

Sowing the Seed. — Where the plants are 
unable to endure the cold of winter, the seed can 
only be sown in the spring. At the Minnesota Uni- 
versity experiment station, results somewhat encour- 
aging were obtained from sowing the seed along 
with oats. One bushel of the vetch seed was used 
per acre along with half that amount of oats. The 
oats were cut for hay when nicely out in head. A 
considerable proportion of the mixture consisted of 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I25 

vetches. While the oats were thus growing into a 
crop, the vetch plants had become firmly established. 
Although they did not make a vigorous growth until 
after the oats were harvested, they then grew up 
and covered the ground w^ith a dense carpet of fine 
foliage, which was pastured off by sheep just as the 
winter was closing in. The late season at which 
this plant can be pastured furnishes one reason w hy, 
in some instances, it should be sown rather than rape. 

The attempts made by the author to grow the 
vetches for autumn pasture by sowing them along 
with oats grown as a grain crop, and in the ordinary 
way, were not altogether successful. The shade of 
the oats appeared to be too dense for the vetches. 
But the circumstances under which the trials were 
made were so unfavorable that quite a different 
result may possibly be obtained where the conditions 
are more favorable. 

Where the plants w^ill survive the winter they 
can be most profitably sown in the autumn and as 
early as the arrival of the fall rains. It is then usual 
to sow the seed along with winter oats or winter 
rye. The latter is perhaps preferable, first, on 
account of its greater hardihood, and, second, 
because of its greater ability to grow on poor land. 
The grain is sown with the vetch to furnish variety 
in the pasture and to provide stems on which the 
latter may climb, but when the crop is pastured, the 
necessity of thus providing support for the vetches 
would not seem to exist. 

However, the grain may greatly assist the vetch 
in checking weed growth. The vetch starts so 
slowly that alone it would seem to have but little 
chance of ascendancy in the contest with weeds. One 



126 FORAGE CROPS. 

biisliel of the vetch seed and one-half bushel of the 
nurse crop are usually sown per acre. But the pro- 
portions in which to blend the seed that will be found 
the most suitable for each locality can only be ascer- 
tained bv actual test. 

CnUivat'ion. — When the sand vetch is sown 
alone or with some other crop, it would not seem to 
be necessary, usually, to give it any cultivation. But 
in some instances a light harrow may be run over 
the land with decided advantage just before the 
plants appear, and later the weeder may sometimes 
be thus used also. It may, how^ever, be sown in 
rows and cultivated. In the plot thus grown at the 
Minnesota University experiment station, the rows 
were thirty inches apart. A beautiful and dense 
mass of foliage was secured which lay along upon 
the ground to the depth of one to two feet. The 
yield was at the rate of 15.1 1 tons of green food per 
acre. But it will not pay to grow the sand vetch 
thus, because of the labor involved in keeping the 
land clear while the plants are young. The creep- 
ing habit of the tendrils adds much to the labor of 
cultivation. 

PasHmng. — Unquestionably the sand vetch has 
better adaptability for providing pasture than for 
providing soiling food, fodder, or green manure. 
Nevertheless, some experiments in the southern 
states speak favorably of its adaptation to the pro- 
duction of soiling food and also hay. When well 
advanced in growth it is not easily harvested, because 
of the length and intertwining character of the ten- 
drils. And, for the same reason, it is not easily 
buried with the plow. If pastured off by sheep 
when not too far advanced it should readily grow 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 27 

up again and again. Figure 17 represents sheep pas- 
turing on sand vetches, October 30, 1897. The 
mass of vine held aloft by the young man who 
appears in the picture represents a single plant. 
When the growth has become well advanced, sheep 
do not care to eat the stronger and more woody por- 
tion of the tendrils. 

Observations. — i. Where the common winter 
vetch can be grown successfully, it will probably be 
found superior to the sand vetch in providing soiling 
food and fodder, since it is more upright in its habit 
of growth, is much more easily harvested and is less 
tough in the stems. 

2. When sowing sand vetches along with win- 
ter rye or other winter crops, the plan of sowing the 
combined crops at the same time would seem to be 
a good one. 

3. The sand vetch could possibly be utilized in 
crowding out ferns that overshadow more useful 
forms of growth in Washington and Oregon, by 
simply scattering the seed and not grazing too 
closely. And in the southern states it may yet be 
made to serve a similar purpose with other forms 
of weed life. 

4. The seed of the sand vetch cannot be grown 
successfully in any of the northern states of the 
Union east of the Rocky mountains. At the Min- 
nesota experiment station only a few of the pods 
matured seed. 

THE COWPEA. 

The cowpea (Dolichos Chinensis) is proving an 
unmingled blessing to the agriculturists of the 
United States, and more especially to those of them 



ij8 



FORACl-: CROPS. 




a 

X 

W 



= i 

b( I 

c 



<0 



60 



LEGUMINOUS I'LAxVTS. 1 29 

who dwell in the southern half of the republic. It 
is now bein^ ^^rown ior table use, for forage, for 
soiling food, and for winter fodder. But its great- 
est value, probably, lies in its jxAver, first, to grow- 
in worn and poor soils, and, second, in its power Xo 
renovate them. This renovating ])ower arises, first, 
from the ability of this i)lant to gather nitrogen from 
the air and to store it in the soil ; seccjnd, from the 
large amount of vegetable matter which it brings 
to the soil in its roots and also in the vines when 
plowed under; and, third, from the beneficial effects 
which it exerts upon the soil mechanically. 

Formerly the cow])ea was gn jwn more as a fer- 
tilizer than as a focxl plant; hence it was generally 
considered good ])ractice to plow under the entire 
crop. ]>ut since it has been demonstrated that the 
vines are even more valuable than the grain in fur- 
nishing food f(jr stock, and that much fertility is 
stored up in the roots, the ])ractice of using the vines 
and the grain as food is beccmiing c|uite common. 

The cowpea resembles the bean more closely 
than the pea. In its habit of growth it is trailing, 
recumbent, semi-recumbent or erect, according to 
the variety and the favorable nature or otherwise of 
the surroundings. It has great power to gather 
food, even on poor soils, hence it can be grown on 
soils too ])oor even for growing clover. This fact, 
linked with its ability to withstand drouth, renders 
it sim])ly indispensable to the farmers of the southern 
and southwestern states, and also to those of the 
central states. 

The cowpea will not grow satisfactorily in a 
cold climate, hence, where the common field pea 
flourishes the cowpea languishes, and where the com- 

9 



130 FORAGE CROPS. 

men field pea begins to show signs of trouble or dis- 
tress, from the excessive heat, the cowpea begins to 
flourish ; accordingly it would not be incorrect to say 
that the southern isothermal for the common field 
pea is the northern isothermal for the cowpea. Either 
one of these plants, therefore, may be said to be the 
complement of the other in the economy of our 
agriculture. 

The cowpea is of very many varieties. These 
are nearly all the product of the present century, 
and the number is continually increasing. They 
differ very much in their habits of growth. These 
differences are such as relate, first, to the strength 
of the vine and the amount of foliage and fruit 
which it bears; second, to the character of the 
growth, as erect, trailing or intermediate ; third, to 
the size, shape and color of the leaves, blossoms, 
pods and peas, respectively; and, fourth, to the time 
of maturing. These differences cannot be dwelt 
upon here. Among the favorite varieties in the 
south are the Unknown, sometimes called Wonder- 
ful, the Clay and the Whippoorwill or Speckled. 
Among the favorite varieties in northerly latitudes 
are the Whippoorwill and the Black. 

Distribution. — It has already been intimated 
that the cowpea is a child of the sun, and that in con- 
sequence it is not adapted to cool latitudes. In its 
most perfect form it cannot at present be grown with 
marked success east of the Mississippi and north of 
forty degrees, that is to say, north of the cities of 
Philadelphia, Columbus, Indianapolis and Spring- 
field, in the states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana 
and Illinois, respectively. West of the Mississippi 
the line would run across the states of Iowa, 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I3I 

Nebraska, Wyoming-, Idaho and Oregon, till it 
reaches the Cascade mountains. It would then turn 
south to the northern boundary of California, which 
it would follow to the ocean. In some favored val- 
leys this plant can be grown north of the line thus 
drawn, and on many elevations south of that line it 
cannot be successfully grown. But it will probably 
be f(nmd that north of that line the common field pea 
can better be made to serve any ends sought by 
growing the cowpea, and vice versa. But beyond 
all question the limit of the successful production 
of the Cfnv])ea will be extended further to the north 
in the near future. Providence is good, nature is 
accommodating and man is wise. By a careful 
choice of varieties, coupled with rigid selection of 
the early maturing seeds from vigorous plants, it 
will be found that the line of successful growth of 
cowpeas will be pushed much further to the north, 
as has Vjeen done in growing Indian corn. Within 
the past three months and since the above was for- 
warded for publication, cowpeas of the TLarly Black 
variety have been grown for pasture and grazecl 
off by sheep with much success at the Minnesota 
University ex])eriment farm, as seen in Figure 18. 

Place in the Rotation. — The cowpea being a 
legume should be made to follow a crop that had 
drawn heavily on the nitrogen in the soil, as, for 
instance, a crop of grain or corn. And since it is 
a soil renovator it ought to be followed by some such 
crop as cotton, or corn, or sugar cane. And since 
in the south, where there is a long season for growth, 
the cowpea can be grown as a catch crop, it may be 
made to follow such winter cn)ps as rye, rape, 
vetches or oats, and it may also be made to come 



132 



FORAGE CROPS. 







<p 
> 

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c c 
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LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. ^^33 

after any garden or field crop that has been har- 
vested early, as potatoes, for instance. When soils 
are much worn a crop of cowpeas turned under after 
rye will bring speedy renovation to the land. And 
if the peas should be pastured off upon the land, the 
soil would still be left almost as rich as though the 
entire crop had been buried. Hence it is that the 
growing of cowpeas for soil renovation and pas- 
turing them off may go hand in hand. And since, 
owing to the long season of open weather in the 
south, tw^o crops can oftentimes be grow^n in suc- 
cession in one season for renovating the land, two 
can also be grown in one season for pasture. 

Soil. — Cowpeas will grow better on a rich soil 
than on a soil that is poor. But in soils that are 
overrich, they will produce an excess of vine in pro- 
portion to the fruit which they bear. Notwithstand- 
ing, one of the grand properties of the cowpea arises 
from its ability to grow in poor soils. It is a deep 
and also a gross feeder; hence, when once started, 
the plants will go down into the subsoil and gather 
food to sustain growth in soils where various other 
useful farm products would pine and die. 

Though this plant will give a good account of 
itself on poor soils even, it is much better able to do 
so when some fertilizer, as superphosphate, for 
instance, has first been applied to the land. The 
cowpea, however, like the common pea, will give the 
best returns from soils in w^hich the clay element is 
present in considerable quantities. And even on 
stiff, red clays, the plants are able to make a strong 
growth. But they are easily injured by a super- 
abundance of moisture, even though confined to 
the subsoil. 



134' FORAGE CROPS. 

Preparing the Soil. — Since cowpeas in the south 
may be placed ahnost anywhere in the rotation, since 
they may be sown as an intervening crop and as a 
catch crop, and since they may be sown at ahnost 
any time during- the growing season when the ground 
is moist enough to sprout them, the methods to be 
adopted in preparing the land will of necessity vary. 
It would unduly encroach on space to give in detail 
the mode of preparing the land that would suit every 
instance. But when so preparing it, the aim should 
be to secure fine tilth, a firm seed bed and enough 
moisture to start the crop. After a cultivated crop 
which has been kept clean, such as a crop of potatoes, 
it may be well in some instances simply to disk the 
land without plowing it when preparing it for cow- 
peas, especially when there is a scarcity of moisture. 
And this method of preparing the land for peas to 
be grown for pasture or to provide fertility after 
a harvested crop on clean land, may also be the best, 
but there may be exceptions. 

On soils low in fertility it will usually pay to 
apply some fertilizer. While farmyard manure is 
admirably adapted to promoting the growth of the 
vines, it can seldom be spared for this crop in the 
south. Nor is it considered strictly economical to 
use it thus, since the nitrogen content in the manure 
is not absolutely needed by the pea crop. If nitro- 
gen is used, it can be applied with advantage in the 
form of nitrate of soda. The nitrate should be 
sown broadcast a short time after the crop has 
appeared above ground. Potash when used should, 
as a rule, be sparingly applied, and on some soils, 
especially such as are covered with oak or hickory 
timber, it does not seem to be needed. 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 35 

On the average southern soil, superphosphates 
seem to be the great need of the cowpea crop. The 
fertiHzer would seem to increase the crop in propor- 
tion as it is used, up to the extent of 400 pounds per 
acre. But a light application, as light as fifty pounds 
per acre, will render much benefit to the same if 
incorporated with the soil in proximity to the seed. 
When the peas are planted in rows and cultivated, 
the superphosphates should be thus applied, but when 
they are broadcasted or sown with the grain drill, 
all the tubes running, the fertilizer may also be 
broadcasted and incorporated with the soil near the 
surface while the peas are being sown. 

Sowing. — The time for sowing cowpeas will 
depend upon the climate and the purpose for which 
the peas are sown. Evidently the period during 
which they may be sown will, in some localities, 
cover several months. But in no case should they 
be sown before both soil and weather have become 
warm, otherwise the seed will be almost certain to 
rot in the soil. This peculiarity of the cowpea 
stands much in the way of growing it successfully 
in the north. The seed of this plant should seldom 
be sown earlier than the late corn planting season. 

Whether the seeds should be sown broadcast, 
with the grain drill, using all the tubes, or only some 
of them, will depend upon conditions. The aim 
should be to avoid broadcasting them, since when 
thus sown it is not easy to cover them with the har- 
row so that the rain w^ill not wash them out. But 
the disk harrow, followed by the ordinary harrow, 
could be made to provide a sufficient covering when 
the seed is thus broadcasted. If sown for sheep 
pasture, ordinarily the seed drill ought to be used, 



136 FORACK CROPS. 

all the tul)os \vcM*kini;\ F(M-ai;e fine rather than 
coarse will thus he seeured. When si>\vn to proxicle 
jKisture for cattle, in man)' instances only e\'ery other 
drill tnhe is usetl. The pasture is then slr«>ni;er, hut 
it is also coarser than when sown w ith all the tuhes 
in use. If sown only iov the i;rain or to ])rovi(le 
swine ])asture, the nnvs are planted still wider, that 
horse cultivation may he j^iven them, it is mani- 
fest, therel'ore, that the amount of seed required will 
vary w ith the ohject sought when growing the peas. 
While the amount of seed recjuired slunild sel- 
dom exceed one and one-half hushels jkm* acre, 
sometimes only a fractional i)art of that amount is 
required. 

The comhinatic^ns with which cowpeas may ])e 
grown as forage do not appear to he well ascertained 
as yet, hut there would seem to be no g-ood reason 
whv thev ccHild not he qrown aloui?- with C(M-n sor- 
ghum. rape, vetches, and other forage plants. Thev 
shoultl have special adaptati(^n for being grown 
along with sorghum for sheep pasture. 

Ciiltk'atioii. — Cowpeas may usually he har- 
rowed with some advantage to the crop and to the 
soil a short time before they appear alxn-e the sur- 
face (^f the ground. But w hen sown by hand it may 
be better tt^ use some form of weeder, lest the peas 
be too much disturbed by the process. Ordinarily 
no other cultivation is given w hen the crop is grown 
for pasture or for being i)lowed under, but in some 
instances a weeder and even a light harnwv mav be 
used with ad\antage after the cn^p has appeared. 
\\ hen gnwvn for the grain the lu^rse cultivatic^n 
should he very similar {o that given to a 1)ean c\'o\^. 
It should be sufficiently frequent to keep the ground 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 37 

clean and moist until the peas have grown so far 
that further cultivation would injure them. 

Pasturing. — When C(:>wpeas are pastured with 
sheep, the pasturing may begin before the peas have 
reached the blossoming stage, and when pastured 
with cattle, about the time that they come into bloom. 
But these statements are only intended to be gen- 
eral. There may be reasons why, with both these 
classes of live stock, pasturing may be commenced 
earlier or later. But when swine are to pasture 
upon the peas, the latter should be allowed to attain 
full size before turning the swine upon them. The 
least waste arises when the crop is pastured off 
with sheep, and it may be mentioned here that cow- 
peas usually spring up vigorously again when grazed 
off. Especially is this true of them during the 
earlier stages of growth. 

Observations. — i. While cowpeas make excel- 
lent forage when cured properly, they are difficult 
to cure. They are, therefore, better adapted rela- 
tively to providing forage than hay, and this fact 
should not be overlooked by those who may engage 
in growing them. 

2. Cowpeas would doubtless be much more 
extensively grown for hay or fodder and also for 
the grain, but for the difficulty in harvesting them. 
The "pea harvester," such as is used in Canada in 
harvesting field peas, should do this work admirably, 
but it does not appear to have been introduced into 
sections where cowpeas are grown. It is simply an 
attachment to the field mower. This attachment is 
inexpensive and yet very efficient. With a driver 
and one man walking behind to remove the 
bunches, cowpeas may be harvested nearly as 



138 FORAGE CROPS. 

(|uickly as hay, however much the vines may trail 
along" the ground. 

THE SOY BEAN. 

The soy hean (Glycine hispida) was prohahly 
introduced into the United States from Japan more 
than twenty years ag(X Like cowpeas, it may he 
grown for the grain, for soiling foc^d, for ensilage, 
for pasture and for green manuring. Its greatest 
value, however, will prohahly he found in furnish- 
ing soiling food for dairy cows, as it is in tlie proper 
condition for heing thus fed at that season of 
the year when hut few i)lants are availahle for 
such a use ; that is to say, during the latter part 
of summer. 

The soy hean, like the cowpea, is a hot weather 
l)lant, hut it would seem to he ahle to stand more 
drouth than the former. It has nuich adaptation, 
therefore, for localities that are hoth warm and dry. 
When once well rooted, hot winds that would wilt 
and wither many other forms of vegetation will not 
seriously injure the soy hean. 

Some authorities claim that the soy hean will 
not succeed so well on poor soils as the cowpea. 
Nevertheless, it can he successfully grown on soils 
low in fertility, and may therefore, like the cowpea, 
be turned to good account as a renovator of the soil. 

Experience in pasturing the soy hean in the 
United States has not heen extensive. It is impos- 
sible, therefore, at present to give its precise value 
as a pasture plant under American conditions. But 
since it is stiffer in the stem and UK^re erect in its 
liahit of growth than the cowpea. and in conse- 
quence is more easily broken off than the latter, it 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. 1 39 

should pnjvc less valuable relatively in providing 
pasture, especially for cattle and sheep. 

This plant, like the cow^pea, develops somewhat 
slowly at first, especially in northerly latitudes, but 
later it grows more rapidly. In appearance it 
resembles a common bean, but the fcjliage is larger 
and much more luxuriant, and the habit of growth 
is more upright, as previously intimated. With all 
the conditions favorable this plant in some of its 
varieties will grow to the bight of at least four feet, 
and it produces a large yield of green food. And 
where the seasons are long enough, the plants lade 
heavily with ])ods which mature a food for stock 
that is exceedingly rich in ])rotein. 

Distribution. — The distribution of the soy bean 
is not very different from that of the cowpea, at least 
so far as concerns climatic conditions (see Page 
130) . But some of the early varieties, as the medium 
or green, can be grown successfully further north 
than the cowpea. The claim, however, that they 
will flourish as far north as corn is not quite correct, 
although good results have been obtained from 
growing them at the Massachusetts ex])eriment sta- 
tion. Since the soy bean re(|uires better land than 
the cowpea, its distribution will be somewhat more 
circumscribed, that is to say, it will be more sec- 
tional within the general area where it may be grown 
at its best. And since it will stand dnnith better 
than the cowpea, it has special adaptation for some 
of the states west of the Mississippi and south of 
Minnesota, as, for instance, the states of Kansas, 
Nebraska, Arkansas and Oklahoma. 

While the soy bean can be grown at its best in 
all the states south of the Ohio and east of the Mis- 



140 FORAGE CROPS. 

sissippi, and while it is likely to prove worthy of an 
important place in the agriculture of these states, it 
is not likely that it will ever wholly supplant the 
cowpea. But it may prove a great aid to the latter 
in furnishing food and in renovating the soil. North 
of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi the soy bean 
can be grown with more or less success, even up to 
the Canadian border. But within much of this area 
it cannot be depended on to mature its seeds. For 
this reason, and for the further reason that clover 
grows well within the same area, it is likely that the 
soy bean will not be looked upon as an indispensable 
crop within the limits of the area that is being con- 
sidered. When clover fails, however, it may some- 
times prove advantageous to sow soy beans to sup- 
ply the lack. 

In the states north of the Missouri and west of 
the Mississippi, there is probably no place for the 
soy bean in the economy of the farm, unless in the 
triangle between those rivers at the juncture, which 
includes a part of Minnesota, Iowa and South 
Dakota. In the Rocky mountain valleys south 
from Montana and \\^ashington it may grow 
well under irrigation, but the excellent crops of 
alfalfa which grow in these valleys are likely to ren- 
der its growth less necessary. In Canada the soy 
bean is not likely ever to gain a permanent foothold, 
unless its properties should become considerably 
modified. 

Place in the Rotation. — The place in the rota- 
tion for the soy bean is not far different from that 
of the cowpea (see Page 131) It is generally 
grown as a cleaning crop, and when so grown it 
ought to be placed between two grain crops, if it is 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS. I4I 

practicable to grow it thus. Its province as a catch 
crop is more circumscribed than that of the cowpea, 
since in many of its varieties it takes longer to 
mature. Nevertheless, there are many crops which 
it may be made to follow the same season, as, for 
instance, winter rye, winter wheat, grain forage 
eaten down, or an early crop of potatoes. 

Soil. — A warm, rich vegetable soil with a 
porous subsoil is best adapted to the growth of the 
soy bean. The soils of the fertile prairie, therefore, 
are a natural home for it. It will also grow admir- 
ably in the russet volcanic ash soils of the country 
west of the Rocky mountains. On poor, sandy soils 
it will not make a large growth unless these are first 
fertilized. A moderate amount of clay in the soil 
is grateful to the soy bean, but an excess of clay in 
the soil or subsoil hinders growth. Of course a soil 
saturated with water during much of the period of 
growth would be fatal to success. 

Preparing the Soil. — The preparation of the 
soil for the soy bean is much the same as for the 
cowpea (see Page 134). A reep, fine, firm and 
moist seed bed should be sought. But this does not 
necessarily imply that the plowing shall be deep 
when done in the early summer and on the dry soils 
of the prairie. When the soy bean is planted after 
a grain crop which has just matured, a free use of 
the harrow and roller should be made in a normal 
season to conserve moisture. When the soil needs 
fertilizing, those fertilizers which are most needed 
by the cowpea are also most needed by the soy bean, 
and the mode of applying them is also similar (see 
Page 134). 

Sozving. — Soy beans are commonly sown on 



142 FORAGE CROPS. 

level land, but there may be some few instances when 
raised drills would be superior. When sown for the 
grain, for ensilage, for soiling food or for hay they 
are put in with the grain drill. But they may also 
be planted with a corn planter or a bean planter. It 
is customary to make the rows about thirty inches 
apart. If the crop were grown for pasture the 
rows could be made considerably closer, under some 
conditions, but not so close as to preclude cultiva- 
tion, except such as may be given with the har- 
row. There may be instances when it would be 
advisable to broadcast a crop of soy beans. When 
the rows are thirty inches apart, from two to four 
pecks of seed will suffice per acre. If the rows were 
placed closer, as for growing forage, more seed 
ought to be used. 

The soy bean and the cowpea should grow 
fairly well together. The beans would furnish 
some support to the peas. But further experiments 
are required before it can be claimed that this method 
of growing them has any decided advantage over 
growing the beans separately. At no time should 
the seed be sown earlier than the corn planting sea- 
son, and north of the 40th parallel of latitude it 
ought to be planted later. But south of that line, 
good crops have been grown, the seed of which was 
not planted until July. In the north, early varieties 
only should be sown, and even in the south very late 
varieties ought not to be used. 

Cultivation. — The cultivation suitable for the 
soy bean is about the same as that which ought to be 
given to the cowpea (see Page 136). A harrow 
with the teeth aslant can be used with advantage 
before the beans are up, and also in some instances 



LEGUMINOUS PLANTS 



143 



3 

09 



3" 
n 

•0 



3 
3 3 

p 00 

q 3 

09 



(D 
3 




144 FORAGE CROPS. 

at a later period. The cultivation should be prompt 
and generous, more especially when the plants 
are young. 

Pasturing. — But little can be said as to the best 
modes of pasturing off this crop in the present state 
of our knowledge. It has not been much grown for 
pasture, although some instances are on record 
where it has been so grown. There would seem to 
be no good reasons why it should not be pastured off 
by sheep and swine and even by cattle, although 
cattle would doubtless waste more or less through 
treading upon the plants. At the Alinnesota Univer- 
sity experiment station, lambs fed off the pods and 
leaves, but not the coarse stems. Cattle and sheep 
unused to soy bean pasture might not take kindly to 
it at first, but doubtless they would soon become 
fond of it. A view of sheep pasturing on soy beans 
is presented in Figure 19. 

Ohservations. — i. For making hay, the soy 
bean should be cut when the beans in the pod are 
fully half grown, or before the lower leaves begin 
to fall freely, and the aim should be to handle it but 
little during the curing process, lest many of the 
leaves should be lost. 

2. The soy bean is an excellent soiling plant, 
since it produces a large yield of green food per 
acre and very rich in quality. 

3. When mixed with corn in the silo the qual- 
ity of the ensilage is thereby considerably improved. 



CHAPTER VII. 

RAPE AND CABBAGE. 

Several plants of the Brassica genus have been 
grown as forage for many years in Great Britain 
and other European countries, and so they will be, 
doubtless, in the near future in the United States. 
Only two of these, viz., rape and cabbage, will be 
considered here, as these are the only two species of 
this genus that have hitherto been grown for forage 
on this continent. Some of the other plants of the 
Brassica genus that may yet be introduced will be 
considered in Chapter XI. Of these two plants, 
rape is unquestionably the more important for for- 
age, but the day is probably near when cabbage also 
will be extensively grown, more especially to pro- 
vide late pasture for sheep. 

RAPE. 

The rape plaint (Brassica napus) is beyond all 
question one of the most useful fodder plants that 
has yet been introduced into the United States, and 
so it is likely to continue through all time. In writ- 
ing to the agricultural press in 1890, the author ven- 
tured the opinion that the day would come when 
10,000,000 sheep and lambs would be fattened every 
year in the United States on rape. Why should 
such a statement be looked upon as extravagant? 
It would require only 1,000,000 acres of rape to 
accomplish such an end. 

10 145 



146 FORAGE CROPS. 

The rape plant has been grown for forage in 
Great Britain and some other countries of Europe for 
about 200 years. It is also probable that for many 
years it has been grown for a similar use in limited 
areas of the United States, but not to any great 
extent until quite recently. Its superlative value as a 
fodder ]3lant for sheep is even now not known to one 
among a thousand of our farmers. The isolated 
few who grew it did so mainly as an aid in 
preparing their sheep for competing at the live 
stock fairs. Many of them did so in a sort of 
secretive way. So long as their competitors did 
not know its value, the growers of rape felt 
that in the show rings they would have an advan- 
tage over their rivals who were ignorant of the 
virtues of the plant. 

In Wellington and two or three of the other 
counties of Ontario, rape has been grown in con- 
siderable quantities for nearly a quarter of a cen- 
tury, if not indeed for a longer period, but except 
in these counties rape does not seem to have been 
grown elsewhere in Canada prior to the experiments 
conducted with it by the author at the Ontario gov- 
ernment farm at Guelph. These experiments began 
in 1889. The first bulletin based upon them 
appeared in 1890. At that time it was afiirmed by 
leading seedsmen who were in a position to know 
that there were not 500 pounds of rape seed sold per 
annum to provide sheep pasture in all the United 
States. The same authorities have expressed the 
opinion that in 1897 not less than 500,000 pounds of 
rape seed were sold by the seedsmen of the 
same, that is to say, enough to sow 125,000 to 
150,000 acres. It would now be hazardous to 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 1 47 

try to fix any limits to extension in the growth 
of this plant. 

Rape will grow in one form or another in nearly 
all parts of this continent. The season for sowing 
it usually covers a period of about three months. In 
some climates it covers a period considerably longer. 
The farmer, therefore, can generally find some spot 
on which to grow it without diminishing the area of 
the other crops grown. It can be sown in a score 
of different ways and under a score of different con- 
ditions. When once started it will stand much 
drouth and cold. If desired it may be so grown 
that the cultivation given to it will be found pecul- 
iarly helpful in cleaning the land (Fig. 20). It 
furnishes one of the finest pastures for sheep and 
swine that can be grown for them, and it makes 
excellent soiling food for any class of live stock kept 
upon the farm. It may be grown as a catch crop 
and also as a green manure. It is indeed a veritable 
jewel among the forage crops of this country, as in 
addition to the good qualities just enumerated, its 
food value, pound for pound, is about twice that of 
green clover, and it will usually grow about twice as 
much per acre. 

The rape plant bears a close resemblance to the 
rutabaga in the early stages of its growth. So close 
is this resemblance that an expert cannot distinguish 
between them. The former, however, becomes more 
upright as it clevelops and produces much more of 
top than the latter, but its root is fusiform and there- 
fore of no value for food purposes. Its many prongs 
and long rootlets penetrate the soil in all directions, 
hence it is a gross feeder and draws heavily on the 
soil. But since it is commonly pastured off by live 



148 



FORAGE CROPS. 




s 

a 






e 

o 

a 
a 

c 
o 

a 

4> 
V 

J= 



60 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. I49 

stock where it has grown, the soil will not be 
depleted of its fertility where rape has been thus 
grown and pastured. 

Rape is an annual. It is of several varieties. 
Some of these mature their seeds the same year that 
they are sown. Such are the varieties that are sown 
to provide food for certain birds and also to furnish 
oil. But sometimes the winter varieties are used 
to furnish oil. The summer varieties are not of 
much value for forage, since the proportion of leaf 
growth upon them is small, the season for pasturing 
them is brief, as the stems which shoot upward to 
sustain the seed pods when formed soon become so 
woody that live stock do not relish them. The 
varieties that are really valuable for forage do not 
mature seed the same year that they are sown, and 
of these the Dwarf Essex is probably the best. 
Indeed, it is about the only kind that has heretofore 
been thought worthy of cultivation in this country. 

Distribution. — The Dwarf Essex rape can be 
grown with more or less success in nearly all the 
arable portions of the United States and Canada, 
providing due attention is given to the requisite 
variations as to the time and also as to the method of 
sowing it in the various states and provinces. It is 
what may be termed a cool weather plant, hence in 
growing it the best results relatively may be looked 
for in the states which extend northward to the 
Canadian boundary. And in the tier of states that 
lie immediately to the south of these border states, 
fairly good crops may be grown. But the adapt- 
ability of the republic to rape production would seem 
to lessen with the increase in distance from the 
northern boundary line, and yet there is perhaps no 



150 FORAGE CRUPS. 

state in the Union in which the rape plant cannot 
be turned to good account in furnishing forage, pro- 
viding it is grown at that season of the year when 
the temperature is best adapted to its growth. Moist 
and moderately cool climates are the most favorable 
to the growth of rape, hence it does particularly 
well in those portions of New England where the 
soil is sufficiently rich to grow it, and also on the 
final slope of the Pacific coast, in Oregon, Washing- 
ton and British Columbia. All the arable portions 
of Canada will grow rape in good form, but in none 
of the provinces does it succeed better than in 
Ontario. 

The seed is all imported at present from Great 
Britain and other European countries. It cannot 
be grown with much success in the northern and 
middle states, and in the provinces of Canada, east 
of the Rocky mountains, owing to the coldness of 
the winters. In some of the states that lie pretty 
well to the southward and that are also favored with 
a goodly supply of moisture, it may be demonstrated 
that rape seed may be grown with success. And 
on the Pacific slopes, more especially those which 
border on Puget Sound, the indications all point 
to singular adaptability for the production of the 
seed of this plant (Fig. 21 ). 

Place in the Rotation. — When rape is sown in 
drills and properly cultivated it becomes a cleaning 
crop which may be made as efYective as the best 
managed bare fallow in cleaning the soil. If thus 
grown it may be given any place in the rotation, but 
on account of the beneficent influence on the crops 
that follow, it may be well to sow it on land that 
needs to be freed from superabundant weeds, When 



RAPK AND CABBAGE. 



I- ! 




Fig. 2!. Rape Grown for Seed. 

Whatcom County, Washington. 



152 FORAGE CROPS. 

sown broadcast it ought to be on rich and clean land, 
otherwise the growth will not be sufficiently vigor- 
ous, and the weeds may choke the rape. If sown as 
a catch crop or as a green manure it may be made 
to follow any kind of crop, as occasion may 
require, even though weed seeds may be abundantly 
present in the land, for the pasturing or the plowing 
in of the crop, as the case may be, can be done suffi- 
ciently early to prevent the maturing of wxed seeds 
in the rape. 

This plant may usually be broadcasted with 
advantage on overturned sod. The abundance of 
the vegetable matter furnished by the grass roots 
promotes growth, and such lands are not so liable to 
be filled with weed seeds or other germs of plant life, 
as lands that have been cropped successively with 
grain for a term of years. If rape is sown after win- 
ter rye, or mixed grains or corn that has been eaten 
off, two crops may thus be obtained in a single year 
from the same piece of sod. Such cropping is favor- 
able to the clearing of the land, howsoever the rape 
may be grown. And the same is true when it fol- 
lows cereal crops or clover that has been harvested 
at maturity. It may also be grown with much 
advantage on land that is being summer fallowed, 
whether the rape crop is turned under or pastured 
off. The aim should be to follow rape that has been 
cultivated with some cereal crop, because of the 
favorable condition in which it leaves the land for 
growing these crops. 

Soil. — Rape is best adapted to what may be 
termed deep, rich, moist and free working soils, well 
stored with humus. It grows magnificently in muck 
soils not unduly saturated with water during the 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 1 53 

season of growth. On stiff clays, the seed is slow 
of germination, and subsequent development on this 
class of soils is also slow. On poor, sandy lands it 
may start rjuickly, but the growth will not be vigor- 
ous unless fertilizer in some suitable form has been 
freely ajjplied to them. When moisture is present, 
good farmyard manure is particularly favorable to 
the growth of rape. Nor would it be easy to sup- 
])ly the manure in excessive quantities. Commer- 
cial fertilizers rich in ]>hosphates have been found 
valuable in stimulating the growth of this plant. 

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for 
rai)e, much will depend upon its nature, upon the 
character oi the season, ancl upon the time of year 
when the rape is sown. But, in any event, the aim 
should be to have the seed bed fine, moist, and as 
clean as it can be made under the conditions. When 
tlie crop is sown early, moisture is usually present in 
ample sujji^ly. If it is sown in the late spring or 
during the summer the roller should follow close 
upon the i^lowing to prevent the escape of moisture. 
WHien the seed is sown early, or when the rape crop 
follows just after the removal of another crop, but 
little can be done by way of sprouting weed seeds 
with a view to destroying them before sowing the 
rape seed; but if it is not sown until the season is 
advanced and on land not previously cropped the 
same year, there is ample time to clean the land on 
and near the surface before the rape is sown. 

Sowing. — The time for sowing rape will 
depend, first, on the object sought in growing it; 
second, on the nature of the seasrjn ; and, third, on 
the character of the climate. Ra])e sown for pas- 
ture will usually reach a maximum growth in from 



154 FORAGE CROPS. 

eight to twelve weeks from the time of sowing the 
seed. To provide sheep pasture, rape is not com- 
monly sown until after the season for planting corn, 
as it is in the autumn that such pasture is most 
wanted. But to pro\'ide swine pasture it ought to 
be sown early, and also later at successive intervals. 
In ccnnitries with moist autumns and mild winters, 
it may he advantageous to sow the seed in the 
autumn. 

The method of sowing will depend upon such 
conditions as the nature of the climate, the strength 
of the soil, its cleanness or the opposite, whether the 
seed is sown alone or along with another crop, and 
on the nature of the machinery at hand for sowing 
it. The more moist the climate, the stronger the 
soil and the cleaner the land, the less the 
hazard in l)roadcasting the seed. The drier tlie 
climate, the poorer the soil, and the more foul the 
land, the greater the necessity for sowing in drills 
that cultivation may be given. When cleaning the 
land is one of the objects sought in sowing rape, it 
should always be sown in drills. If sown with 
another crop it must usually be broadcasted. The 
broadcasting is commonly done by hand, or by using 
some form of hand seeder, but when the seed is put 
in rows and sown on large areas, it is put into the 
soil with the grain drill, or with a two-row 
turnip drill. 

The amount of seed required will also vary with 
the conditions. When rape is broadcasted and 
where it is the sole cro]) grown upon the land, from 
three to five pounds of seed are required per acre. 
If drilled in rows, from one to two pounds are used. 
The stronger the soil and the more favorable the 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 1 55 

ccjnditions for growth, the less the quantity of the 
seed required. When the seed is broadcasted, it is 
commonly covered with one stroke of the harrow, 
and may or may not be rolled subsequently with 
advantage, according to conditions. If drilled in, 
much benefit will result from following the seeder 
with the roller, unless where the soils are so light 
as to carry with the wind. In moist climates it will 
be advantageous to sow in raised drills, otherwise 
the rows should be on the level. 

Rape may be sown with corn to provide pas- 
ture, as described in Chapter II. It may also be 
sown in the same just before the last cultivation 
given to the corn, when the corn is 'iaid by" for the 
season. When thus sown, an average of three 
pounds of seed may be used per acre. It can be 
most easily sown from the saddle. The seed is car- 
ried in a sowing box in front of the rider and is held 
in place by shoulder straps. The cultivation that 
follows should be light. After the corn crop has 
been removed, the rape is pastured. The value of 
the pasture thus furnished will depend upon the 
character of the soil and season, and on the lack of 
denseness in the shade furnished by the corn. When 
the late summer and autumn weather are both dry, 
and when at the same time the shade of the corn is 
dense, but little pasture will be provided. Under the 
opposite conditions, however, and where the winter 
closes in tardily, much pasture may be thus grown. 

Rape may also be grown along with sorghum, 
as described in Chapter III. And in many instances 
it may be sown with much advantage along with 
all the common cereals, as wheat, oats, barley and 
rye, whether these are grown singly or in conjunc- 



156 FORAGE CROPS. 

tion, for the grain or to produce soiling food. When 
thus sown, from one to two pounds of seed per acre 
will suffice. There is not so much hazard in sowing 
the lesser quantity named, since in a very dry season 
no return may be realized. The largest return in 
pasture is likely to be obtained from sowing the rape 
seed along with barley, and the smallest ivom sow- 
ing it with oats, because of the less dense shade fur- 
nished by the former, and the more dense shade 
furnished by the latter. With winter wheat or win- 
ter rye, the seed may be sown in spring, as soon as 
the ground is dry enough to sustain a span of horses 
without taking injury from their treading upon it. 
It should then be covered w^ith the harrow. With 
the other crops named it may be mixed with the 
grain at short intervals while it is being sown. This 
method of sowing the rape seed is best suited to the 
loam soils of the prairie. On the average soils of 
the northeastern states and of the eastern half of 
the Dominion of Canada, it would bury the rape 
seed too deeply. 

A second and probably a better method of sow- 
ing the rape seed with these crops would be to put 
it into the seed box of the grass-seed-sowing attach- 
ment of a grain drill, and to have it fall in front of 
the tubes which sow the grain. On many soils this 
would furnish a sufficient covering for the seed, but 
not on all. The same amount of covering would 
also be secured by sowing the seed by hand, or with 
a hand sower before the drilling in of the grain. 
Where more covering is desired the harrow will 
furnish it. 

When the rape seed is sown thus early, there is 
some danger in moist seasons, and especially w^ith a 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 1 57 

barley crop, that the rape will grow so vigorously in 
the barley as to interfere with the harvesting of the 
same. This seldom happens with any of the other 
kinds of grain, and it does not happen very often 
with the barley crop. But it may be prevented by 
sowing the rape seed one or two weeks after the bar- 
ley is sown. The objection to sowing it thus arises 
from the fact that it is likely to go unharrowed. If, 
however, the rape seed is sown just when the first 
blades of barley begin to appear, a light harrow with 
the teeth slanting backward may be used (but not 
always), with decided advantage to the rape and also 
to the barley. 

In an average season and on good soils, no 
easier method of sowing rape for pasture can be 
adopted. But there is not the same certainty that 
pasture will be obtained as when the rape is the sole 
crop grown on the land. Sometimes an excellent 
crop of fall pasture will result and at other times 
there will be little or none. It would not be wise 
to sow rape thus on hard or infertile land. 

Cultivation. — When rape is sown broadcast, no 
cultivation other than harrowing can be given to it. 
It is a hardy plant, and if sown thickly enough to 
allow for a small proportion of the plants being torn 
out, it may be harrowed under some conditions with 
positive advantage. But it is not usual to harrow 
rape that has been broadcasted. 

If rape is sown in drills, the cultivation should 
begin as soon as the plants are easily traced in the 
line of the row. The cultivator should run near the 
plants, especially at first, but not so as to bury 
any considerable number of them. Shallow but 
thorough cultivation should follow at intervals, until 



158 • FORAGE CROPS. 

the leaves are not far distant as they reach out 
toward the center of the space between the rows. 

It is not common to thin the rape, l)ecause of 
the amount of labor involved, although larger crops 
would result if it were thinned. Unless the land is 
quite foul with weeds that grow rapidly, the rape 
will generally choke the weeds in the line of 
the row. But large weeds should be struck out 
with the hoe or topped back rather than have them 
go to seed. 

Pasturing. — Rape may be pastured off at vari- 
ous stages of development, according to the object 
sought. When eaten down before it has made a 
maximum growth it will grow up again with more 
or less vigor. The strength of the second growth 
will be proportionate to the character of the soil as 
to texture and richness, to the character of the sea- 
son as to moisture or the opposite, and to the nature 
of the pasturing. The richer and moister the soil, 
the more moist the weather, and the earlier and less 
close the depasturing, the stronger will be the second 
growth of the rape. But depasturing should not 
commence in any event until the rape has become 
well established in the soil, that is to say, until it has 
made a growth of several inches. And in pasturing 
off rape with a view to getting a second or a third 
growth, the animals which feed upon it are very 
prone to crop it off so closely that the capacity of the 
plant to grow again is weakened. This is particu- 
larly true of sheep. Experiment has not told us 
whether more food will be obtained from allowing 
the rape to approach the maximum of development 
before it is eaten down or from pasturing it off at 
two or three successive intervals. But in the judg- 



RAPE Ax\D CABBAGE. 1 59 

ment of the author the first system will furnish con- 
siderahly more food than the second. 

Ra]je may be pastured off with horses, cattle, 
sheep, swine and fowls. Horses and cattle waste 
more through treading than the other classes of live 
stock named. Cows in milk should not usually be 
allowed to pasture on rape lest a taint be given to the 
milk, but it may be cut and fed to them after each 
period of milking. Neither cattle nor sheep should 
be turned in upon rape when hungry, lest they eat 
too much of it and so induce bloating, which, in a 
very short time, may prove fatal. And when the 
rape is wet from rain or dew, the tendency in the 
rape to produce bloating is increased. And in cli- 
mates where moisture abounds, the danger from 
bloat is greater than when moisture is not plentiful. 
The author has observed that in the country drained 
by the Mississippi and its tributaries, the danger 
from bloating in animals pasturing on rape is less 
than from pasturing them on the same in New Eng- 
land, eastern Canada and the further Pacific slope 
north of California. 

Cattle and sheep may be accustomed to rape by 
turning them into a field of the same after they have 
eaten freely of some other food and then leaving 
them in the rape pasture. But the danger will be 
still further decreased by allowing them to remain 
en the rape only for a short time the first day, and 
ly gradually increasing the time during each suc- 
ceeding day. In less time than a week they may be 
allowed to remain on the rape, having access at will 
at the same time to an adjoining grass pasture, for 
reasons given further on. In thus accustoming a 
large flock of sheep to a rape pasture, the aid of a 



l6o FORAGE CROPS. 

saddle horse will be found serviceable, owing to the 
difficulty of walking through a heavy crop of rape 
on foot. 

When animals that have never been pastured 
upon rape are first turned in upon it, they may not 
take kindly to it, not having acquired a taste for the 
rape, but if confined to it they will soon eat it raven- 
ously. So fond do they become of it that ere long 
when feeding upon a mixed pasture in which rape is 
one of the factors, they will first search out the rape 
and consume it in preference to almost all other kinds 
of plants. And when once they have acquired a 
taste for rape they never tire of it. 

If live stock are pasturing on rape it is generally 
considered beneficial to the animals to give them 
access also to a grass pasture. And if the grass in 
the latter has lost some of its succulence through age, 
the benefit will be increased. The grass lessens the 
tendency to ''scours" in the animals, that is to say, 
it lessens the tendency to a too lax condition of the 
digestion. Grain, as oats, for instance, fed once 
a day at the rate of, say, half a pound per head for 
each animal, will have a similar effect upon the diges- 
tion. But it is not usually considered necessary to 
feed grain to live stock that are being pastured on 
rape, for the sole object of hastening the fattening 
process, as it is doubtful if any kind of grain can 
be added to rape pasture in a mature stage of growth 
that will cause the sheep to lay on fat much more 
cjuickly than if they are pastured on rape alone. 
Cattle and sheep should always have free access to 
salt when pasturing upon rape, and when nec- 
essary they should also be supplied daily with 
water. But when sheep are pasturing upon sue- 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. l6l 

culent rape in the autumn, they will drink little or 
no water. 

If sheep are turned in upon a rape pasture that 
is neither very tall nor very dense, they will first con- 
sume the leaves because of their greater succulence. 
They will finally consume all the stems, eating them 
off close to the ground. But if the rape should be 
tall and thick they will feed it off clean, or virtually 
so, as they pasture. The stems are considered even 
better for laying on fat than the leaves. When the 
leaves, but not the stems, of a rape pasture have been 
eaten by sheep, if cattle are then turned into the same 
to complete the depasturing, there will be much less 
loss of rape by trampling than if the cattle had been 
turned in at an earlier stage of the depasturing. 

On soils that do not poach, that is to say, on 
soils in which the hoofs of the sheep do not sink 
beneath the surface, sheep may be pastured upon 
rape with profit until the closing in of winter. And 
it may yet turn out that in warm latitudes they can 
be pastured on rape through the whole of the winter. 
Oftentimes they may be pastured on it with profit 
after the fi.rst snows have fallen. But in climates 
with cold winters, rape should be eaten off before 
the arrival of severe frosts. After the rape has 
been frozen until the stems become so crisp that they 
are easily broken asunder, the value of the rape pas- 
ture is much impaired. And when the early frosts 
cover the rape with rime, the sheep should not be 
allowed upon the rape until after they have partaken 
of a feed of oats or other suitable grain. In the 
absence of such food they should not be given access 
to the rape until the frost has lifted, or serious diges- 
tive troubles may arise. 
II 



1 62 FORAGE CROPS. 

Observations. — i. The rape crop is sometimes 
said to be severe on land, that is to say, that it will 
soon deplete the soil of its fertility. That will 
depend on the use to which the rape is put. If pas- 
tured off by live stock, as sheep, for instance, that 
remain upon the field while they are depasturing the 
crop, it is difficult to see how it can deplete the soil 
of its fertility, since what has been produced is put 
back upon the soil. 

2. It should be remembered that clay lands are 
unsuitable for being pastured in moist weather, even 
by sheep, when they are carrying a crop of rape. If 
they are thus pastured off when in the condition 
stated, the land will be so impacted as to render sub- 
sequent cultivation both difficult and costly. 

3. The number of sheep that one acre will sus- 
tain, and the period through which it will sustain 
them, will, of course, depend upon the character of 
the growth in the rape. But an average crop will 
sustain from ten to fifteen animals per acre for sixty 
days. At the end of the sixty days they should all 
be in condition to ''take the market," even though 
lean in form when put upon the rape. 

4. When sheep eat so excessively of rape or 
of any other fodder plant as to induce bloating, 
relief must be at once given or the animals will 
almost certainly die. And they will die with great 
suddenness. When they are being pastured on 
rape in large numbers, therefore, a trocar should 
always be on hand. The moment that a case of 
l)loat is detected, the paunch should be tapped to 
allow the gas to escape. This is done by striking 
the trocar into the stomach on the left side and some- 
what low down in the triangular fleshly space 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 1 63 

between the last rib and the hip. Sheep die so 
quickly from bloat that medicine given is seldom of 
much value. But if animals dying or just dead from 
bloat are at once bled, the meat is not injured as food. 

CABBAGE. 

Cabbage (Brassica olcracea) has been grown to 
some extent as a soiling food for sheep, both in 
Europe and America, but so far as known to the 
author it has not been grown to provide pasture 
for sheep elsewhere than at the Minnesota Univer- 
sity experiment farm. The experiments there con- 
ducted were carried on under the direction of the 
author, and they have been quite successful, in fact, 
encouragingly so. No plant grown at the said farm 
has furnished more valuable food for sheep to the 
acre. The field thus opened for growing this plant 
will prove surely a very wide one. 

Although very similar to rape in its food con- 
stituents, a crop of cabbage, when well matured, will 
sustain less injury from frost, and consequently will 
provide pasture later in the season. A second advan- 
tage that cabbage has over rape as a pasture plant, 
arises from the fact that there is even less hazard in 
growing the former. It cannot be said that the cab- 
bage has more of inherent vigor than rape, but the 
mode of cultivation which it requires is almost cer- 
tain to insure a crop even in the driest seasons. 
There is certainly a wide future before this plant in 
providing pasture for sheep. 

Distrihution. — Cabbage, like rape, can be suc- 
cessfully grown in nearly all sections of the United 
States and Canada. But, like rape and rutabagas, 



164 FORAGE CROPS. 

it can be grown more successfully in cool and 
moist latitudes than in those that are warm and dry. 
But cabbages can be successfully grown in warmer 
latitudes than either of these crops. Wherever they 
can be successfully grown for table use without too 
great an expenditure of labor, they can also be suc- 
cessfully grown to provide sheep pasture. 

Place in the Rotation. — Cabbages may be suc- 
cessfully grown for forage anywhere in the rotation, 
but since they should receive cultivation while they 
are growing, they should preferably be put on 
ground that requires to be cleaned, and should ordi- 
narily be followed by a crop of grain sown with 
grass seeds. 

Soil. — The best soils for growing rape are also 
the best for growing cabbage, and these have been 
described previously when treating of rape. But it is 
even more important that the land shall be rich when 
growing a crop of cabbage on it than when growing 
a crop of rape. Cabbage can also be successfully 
grown on land that has too much clay in it to grow 
rape well. It would not be wise, nevertheless, to 
grow cabbage for forage on such land, as pasturing 
off the crop late in autumn would tend very much 
to impact the soil. 

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil for 
cabbage, the ground should, as a rule, be plowed 
deeply the autumn previous. But there may be 
localities, as those with winters open and rainy, 
where it would be better not to plow in the autumn. 
If not rich naturally, it should be made so by turn- 
ing under a free application of farmyard manure, 
in a somewhat advanced stage of decay. Where the 
soils are leechy, the manure should be spread over 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 1 65 

the surface after the land has been plowed. Usually 
it is not necessary to plow the land again in the 
spring, but it ought to be deeply stirred with the cul- 
tivator as early as the work can be done, and a suc- 
cession of harrowings may also be in order. The 
number of these will be somewhat dependent on the 
time at which the seed is sown. The earlier the seed 
is sown the less the opportunity that will be given 
for thus sprouting the weeds on and near the surface. 

Sowing. — The time for sowing the seed will 
depend, first, on the character of the climate ; second, 
on the variety of the cabbage ; and, third, upon the 
season when the crop is to be depastured. Sowing 
should be deferred until danger from frost is past. 
If early pasture is wanted, then the seed of some 
early or semi-early variety should be sown, and as 
early as the sowing may be safely done, otherwise 
some late variety should be chosen and the sowing 
deferred until the soil has been well cleaned and 
mellowed. About the corn planting season will be 
found a very suitable time for planting cabbage seed 
of the late varieties, and those varieties should be 
chosen that have been found well adapted to the 
locality. 

When a limited area is to be sown, after the 
ground has been thoroughly pulverized it should 
then be rolled and the rows marked off with some 
form of hand marker. They should vary in dis- 
tance from thirty to thirty-six inches, according to 
the variety of the cabbage and strength of the soil. 
The seed may then be sown with a hand machine. 
The roller should again be passed over the soil where 
the wind is not liable to blow it away. When a 
large area is to be sown the drills may be slightly 



l66 FORAGE CROPS. 

raised by using a double mold-board plow and 
marker, and the seed sown with a machine drawn 
by a horse, and which sows, covers and rolls two 
rows at a time. Or it may be sown on the level, 
after the ground has been rolled, w^ith a grain drill 
capable of sowing properly so small a seed. There 
are grain drills that will do such work nicely. When 
they are driven with sufficient care the rows will be 
straight enough to admit of easy cultivation. Of 
course, the openings for seed in the drill must all be 
closed, except those which are to be used in sowing 
the cabbage seed. 

The amount of seed required will vary with 
the variety of the cabbage, with the strength of the 
soil, and with its condition as to moisture. But, as 
a rule, less than one pound per acre should not be 
sown and more than two pounds will seldom 
be needed. 

It will generally be found cheaper to sow the 
plants thus than to grow them elsewhere and then 
transplant them into the rows. When they grow 
too thickly they are quite as easily thinned as tur- 
nips or rutabagas. The work of thinning can be 
done even more quickly in the case of cabbage, as 
they are to be thinned to a greater distance. In 
some sections it would scarcely be possible to grow 
cabbage plants after this fashion, because of the 
ravages of insects and because of the slow growth 
that they would make when young on certain soils. 
Where they cannot be grown thus, it is at least 
questionable whether the attempt should be made 
to grow cabbage as forage. 

Cultivation. — As soon as the cabbage can be 
distinctly traced in the line of the row, the cultiva- 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 



167 




1 68 FORAGE CROPS. 

tion should begin. It should come as near to the 
young plants as possible without covering them. 
And it should be frequently given and continued 
until it cannot longer be done lest the leaves of the 
cabbage be broken. The thinning of the plants 
should begin when they are from three to four inches 
high. The work is nearly all done with the hoe. 
The individual doing it stands squarely in front of 
the row, that is to say, he faces it, not standing too 
near, and strikes out the plants which intervene 
between those which are to be left. Of course, the 
strong plants are to be left, and to secure such an 
end it may be necessary sometimes to vary a little 
in the distance to which the plants are to be thinned. 
The proper distance between the plants in the line 
of the row will vary with the conditions, but the aim 
should be to secure large heads in the cabbage, hence 
they should be thinned accordingly. From twenty 
to thirty inches between the plants in the line of the 
row may be named as the two extremes of close and 
wide thinning, respectively. 

Pasturing. — Cabbage are best adapted to pro- 
vide pastures for sheep. Although they are especially 
adapted to furnishing autumn pasture, the season of 
pasturing should not be too long deferred in localities 
with cold winter climates, as, if the crop is not all 
eaten before winter closes in, the part uneaten will 
be lost. In sections with mild winter climates, the 
pasturing may go on far into the winter season. 
Figure 22 represents sheep pasturing on cabbage. 

As the sheep are turned into a cabbage pasture, 
the same care should be exercised as with rape, that 
the change, of diet shall not be too suddenly made. 
When used to the new diet, the sheep may be left 



RAPE AND CABBAGE. 1 69 

on the cabbage all the time, or they may also be given 
access to a grass pasture, as may be convenient. If 
given time enough, the sheep will eat the entire crop 
save the stalks. 

Observations. — i. Cabbage for sheep pasture 
may be grown with special reason where the soil will 
grow an abundance of rutabaga tops, but will not 
produce good roots, and where severe early frosts 
would injure rape. 

2. This crop will produce a very large amount 
of pasture high in nutrition. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

THE COMMON CEREALS. 

Wheat, oats, rye and barley are included in the 
term, common cereals. In the popular idea, peas 
also are included, though not a cereal in the strictest 
sense of the term. With the exception of rye, these 
grains are seldom used singly in providing pasture. 
But they are frequently grown in combination for 
such a use. When thus grown, it is believed that 
more pasture will be produced than could be obtained 
by growing any one variety alone. This arises 
mainly from a difference in the habit of the growth 
of the plants of each variety, first, as to quickness 
of grow^th, and, second, as to stooling properties. 
For instance, if oats and barley are sown in com- 
bination, the barley, because of its more rapid 
growth, will furnish the bulk of the pasture during 
the earlier grazing period, while the oats will furnish 
the bulk of the same during the later grazing 
period. And the oats will stool more than the 
barley. Good grazing may be furnished, there- 
fore, for a longer period by growing the two 
in combination than by growing either singly. 
The variet}^ thus afforded is also advantageous, on 
the principle that variety in grass pastures is 
advantageous. 

Pastures from these grains will not be equally 
serviceable in all parts of the United States. They 
will be serviceable, first, in proportion as grasses 

170 



THE COMMON CEREALS. t/I 

and clovers grow shyly or not at all in any locality ; 
second, in proportion to the success which attends 
the growing of cereals for pasture; and, third, in 
proportion to the lack of success which attends the 
growing of plants of the sorghum family for pas- 
ture. While pastures of more or less value may be 
obtained from cereals in all parts of the United States 
in which cereals can be grown with success, it will 
follow, therefore, that they will render the best serv- 
ice in states that lie in the upper half of the Missis- 
sippi basin, and in the arable portions of Canada 
which drain into Hudson Bay. Cereal pastures 
will be less valuable relatively in the eastern, more 
especially the New England, states, and in the prov- 
inces of Canada which extend from Lake Huron to 
the Atlantic. In these areas the rainfall is usually 
abundant and well distributed. The soils are also 
of heavier texture than in the west, and the protect- 
ing snows are more abundant in winter, hence the 
conditions are relatively more favorable to the 
growth of grass pastures than in the prairie states 
and provinces. In the former, the cereals not only 
grow more slowly, but more difficulty is experienced 
in grazing them off, from liability to impaction of 
the soil through the treading of the stock. Over all 
the southern half of the United States the conditions 
are more favorable, relatively, to growing pasture 
from the saccharine and non-saccharine members of 
the sorghum genus. 

Pastures from cereals are usually obtained, first, 
by sowing winter rye; and, second, by sowing the 
''small" grains, as rye, wheat, oats and barley, in 
various combinations. Under some conditions, 
cereals may also be pastured, in some instances, 



172 FORAGE CROPS. 

for a time and with profit, by sheep, even when 
they are to be harvested for the grain which 
they produce. 

WINTER RYE. 

Of the cereals, rye (Secale cereale) is beyond 
all question the most suitable for forage uses. It is 
an annual, and, therefore, it is usually necessary to 
sow it every year. But instances are on record in 
which it has been pastured for a period considerably 
longer than a year, by keeping it eaten off closely. 
The various kinds of rye may be divided into two 
classes, one of which is know^n as winter rye and the 
other as spring or summer rye. The winter varie- 
ties are much more valuable than the spring varieties 
in providing pasture, since the former are frequently 
grazed both autumn and spring, whereas the latter 
furnish pasture for a short season only in the early 
part of summer. The great value of winter rye as 
a forage plant is not as generally understood as it 
ought to be, or much more of it would be sown to 
grow forage. 

Distribution. — Rye can be grown for pasture in 
all, or nearly all, the tillable portions of the United 
States. Where lands are irrigated, it may not 
always be profitable to grow rye for pasture, but, of 
course, on these it may be thus grown, and in great 
]:)erfection. As a forage crop it will probably be 
more valuable relatively in those areas where grasses 
and sorghums do not grow at their best. Hence, it 
may be made to render peculiar service in providing 
forage in all parts of the upper Mississippi basin, 
and in the regions of Canada which drain into Hud- 
son Bay. In some portions, however, of the 



THE COMMON CEREALS. 1 73 

Hudson Bay basin, the low temperatures of winter 
will preclude the possibility of growing winter rye. 
Although extremely hardy, even more so than any 
of the clovers, there are low temperatures which it 
cannot survive. Winter rye also renders yeoman 
service in furnishing forage in latitudes with mild 
temperatures, and more especially when the air in 
these is moist and the rainfall sufificient. In such 
areas the season for pasturing the rye is more con- 
tinuous and prolonged than it can possibly be where 
the w^inters are long and cold. 

Place in the Rotation. — Rye for pasture may be 
placed anywhere in the rotation. This is more par- 
ticularly true of winter rye. But since it becomes 
in a sense a ''cleaning" crop when another crop 
immediately follows the depasturing, it will be 
found good practice to sow it on land that requires 
cleaning. As the period for pasturing in the spring 
is of but short duration, there is ample time to 
follow rye pasture with corn, potatoes, sorghum 
in any of its varieties, field roots, millet, or rape. 
Such a succession cannot but prove destructive 
to w^eeds, and the only sections where it cannot 
be adopted successfully are those in which the rain- 
fall is so meager as to prohibit the growing of 
these crops the same season, after the rye has 
been eaten off. 

Soil. — Winter rye may be successfully grown 
for pasture on any soil possessed of the requisite 
fertility and moisture. It has much power to gather 
food in the soil, hence, even on poor soils, it will 
make a fair growth when supplied with the needed 
moisture. On the other hand, the vigor of the 
growth will be proportionate to the richness of the 



174 FORAGE CROPS. 

land, and to the ease with which the rootlets of the 
rye can gather food from it. Rye has peculiar 
adaptation for sandy land, hence on such land it 
may be grown for forage with a fair measure of 
success, although too poor to grow other cereals in 
good form. On stiff clay soils, the growth is slow. 
A further objection to growing rye on such soils for 
pasture arises from the fact that grazing it off in 
wet weather so tends to impact the land as to render 
subsequent cultivation difficult and more or less 
unprofitable. 

Preparing the Soil. — When the moisture is 
ample, the preparation of the soil for winter rye is a 
simple process. The land only needs to be plow^ed 
and pulverized so as to produce a fine tilth, that is to 
say, a fine condition of pulverization on the surface 
and for some distance below it. Under these condi- 
tions, the plowing of the land may be deferred until 
the time approaches for sowing the rye, if it is more 
convenient to have it thus, but where moisture is 
deficient it would be necessary to plow the land 
some time previously. When thus plow^ed, it should 
be at once rolled w^ith a heavy roller or packed with 
a subsoil packer, as conditions might require. The 
harrow- should follow within a few days, and after 
an interval one or more subsequent harrowings may 
be necessary. Ground moisture sufficient to sprout 
the rye can thus be arrested near the surface, 
unless under conditions extremely adverse. In the 
absence of enough moisture to sprout the rye, it 
w^ould be useless to sow it. Where a crop of peas 
has just been removed from clean land, it is usually 
not necessary to plow before sowing the rye. 
Disking it once or twice will be found a suffi- 



THE COMMON CEREALS. 175 

cient preparation when followed by more or less 
harrowing. The second disking should be made so 
as to cross the first. 

Sozi'ing. — The best time to sow rye for pasture 
will depend upon the amount of moisture in the soil, 
the severity of the winters, and the extent of the 
pasturing that is sought. No good can come from 
sowing the rye on a soil with insufficient moisture 
to produce germination. If there should be only 
moisture enough to start germination and not 
enough to sustain it, the young plants must perish. 
In some instances, therefore, it may be necessary to 
defer sowing for several weeks after the ground has 
been made ready. 

Where the winter climate is severe, the aim 
should be to sow the rye sufficiently long before the 
advent of winter to enable it to make a good growth 
in the autumn. When the roots have a strong grip 
on the soil, and wdien the ''top growth" made is 
sufficient to act as a mulch, the rye is enabled, espe- 
cially in the absence of snow, to endure the rigors of 
an open winter with much less injury than if the 
plants entered the winter with but little of develop- 
ment. Later sown winter rye ordinarily makes but 
a feeble growth in the early spring, even though it 
should not be seriously harmed by the cold of winter, 
and it is in the early spring that rye pasture is espe- 
cially valuable. 

If pasturing the rye in the autumn is an impor- 
tant consideration, then, of course, the rye must be 
sown early, as early as August in the northern 
states, somewhat later in the central, and still later 
in the southern. In the northern states and in 
Canada, the aim should be to sow^ rye for pasture not 



1 76 FORAciE CROPS. 

later than the middle of September, whether it is to 
be eaten down or not in the autumn. It may survive 
though not sown until near the advent of w^inter, but 
late sowing is not likely to produce an abundance of 
pasture in the spring, although in some instances it 
may produce a good crop of grain. 

Rye should be sown thickly when it is to be 
pastured. Not less than twc^ and one-half bushels 
of seed per acre should be used, and on some soils 
three bushels will prove more satisfactory. The less 
favorable the conditions, the greater should be the 
amount of seed sown. It is more satisfactory to put 
the seed in with the grain drill than by any other 
method. The grain drill buries the seed to a 
uniform depth, hence all of it is more likely 
to grow. The roots are nearer the sources of 
moisture, and since they are deeper than would 
result from broadcast sowing, the plants sufifer 
less injury from adverse winter weather. The 
depth to plant the seed will vary with the con- 
ditions, but ordinarily from two to three inches 
will suffice. 

Cultivation. — Usually no further cultivation is 
necessary after the rye has been sown, but in some 
instances it may be harrowed with advantage in the 
early spring. The stirring thus given to the surface 
of the ground tends to promote the growth of the 
rye and to discourage the growth of weeds. In dry 
regions it will also render good service in the extent 
to which it will prevent the escape of ground mois- 
ture. If grass seeds have been sown upon it, the 
harrowing renders the ''catch" of the seeds more 
certain. But sowing grass seeds on rye that is to 
l)e pastured is of dcmbtful advantage, owing to the 



THE COMMON CEREALS. I77 

early period at which the depasturing ought to begin. 
There are some soils on which sowing grass seeds 
may prove quite successful. 

Pasturing. — Rye pasture is excellent for all 
kinds of live stock. It is particularly helpful in pro- 
ducing an abundant milk flow, before it reaches the 
jointing stage. Live stock may be turned in upon 
it in the autumn as soon as it has made a sufficient 
growth to furnish a ''good bite." and likewise, also, 
in the spring. Sheep may be put upon it earlier 
than cattle, because of their greater ability to gather 
food from short pastures. It should be kept so 
closely grazed that it will not joint. As soon as it 
joints to form the head, its power to produce much 
pasture, and also good pasture, is gone. And when 
not eaten until the jointing stage has been reached, 
live stock will not then relish it because of the woody 
character which it assumes. It should also be 
remembered that when rye has been pastured for a 
considerable period in the autumn, it is not likely to 
produce so much pasture in the spring as it would 
had it not been so pastured. Plants, like people, 
exhaust their powers when they have done a certain 
amount of work. 

More food would be obtained by dividing the 
rye into two or more sections and alternating the 
grazing. But this may seldom be practicable because 
of the labor and expense involved. When sheep are 
being pastured on rye, if they are given some con- 
centrated food at the same time, as, for instance, oil 
cake or corn, both sheep and land will be much 
improved. When cows in milk are being pastured 
on rye, they should not be allowed to graze upon it 
more than two or three hours per day, and only just 
12 



1/8 FORAGE CROPS. 

after they have been milked, otherwise both milk and 
butter will be affected adversely. 

Observations. — i. Winter rye is not altogether 
satisfactory as a pasture plant when sown in the 
spring. It will make a good and rapid growth for 
a time, but when the hot weather of summer comes, 
it usually turns a sickly, rusty color, and in very dry 
weather dies outright. This, at least, has been the 
author's experience in growing spring sown winter 
rye, both in Ontario and Minnesota. Several other 
cereal plants will furnish more and better pasture 
when sown in the spring. 

2. Winter rye is sometimes pastured with 
swine from early spring until the crop has been har- 
vested by the swine. When thus pastured the rye 
is in excess of the immediate wants of the swine, 
and consequently it forms ears that mature. In many 
instances it may be well to remove the swine for a 
time to prevent breaking it down unduly until the 
grain is nearly matured. The grain is then consumed 
by the swine. Much of it will, of course, shell (Uit 
and become more or less imbedded in the ground by 
the trampling of the swine. In moist weather, it soon 
springs up and in turn furnishes late summer pas- 
ture. If clover has been sown on the rye in the 
early spring, the pasture will be much improved in 
consequence, when a good ''catch" of the clover is 
obtained. This method of furnishing food for 
swine has met with some favor in Ohio and else- 
where, but it does not seem to find much favor as 
yet with the average farmer. 

3. When rye is sown in the late summer with 
a view to pasturing it in the autumn and also in the 
spring, Dwarf Essex rape seed may be sown along 



THE COMMON CEREALS. 1 79 

with the rye, and g^enerally with no little advantage. 
I^Vom one to two pounds of rai)e seed should be sown 
per acre, and, in some instances, a larger quantity. 
Hie seed may be sown, first, by adding it to the rye 
in the drill grain box at short intervals and mixing 
it with the rye while the latter is being sown ; second, 
by the grass-seed-sowing attachment to the grain 
drill, when it has one — the rape seed should fall 
before rather than after the grain tubes, that a cov- 
ering may thus be ])rovided for the seed; third, by 
some other form of seeder, or by hand, after the rye 
has been sown. One stroke of the harrow should 
then l)e given to cover the ra])e seed. Ra])e sown 
with rye docs not grow so vigorously as when it is 
the sole occupant of the ground, but if sown five or 
six weeks before the pasturing begins it will usually 
add much to the value of a rye pasture, and more 
es])ecially when it is to be eaten down by shec]). 
Jjut the rape will not live through the winter, as the 
rye does, excei)t in mild latitudes. 

4. The few trials that have been made in grow- 
ing rye and crimson clover together have not proved 
altogether satisfactory. Although these plants are 
frecjuently sown at the same season, one is liable to 
be weakened by the growth of the other. In locali- 
ties quite favorable to the gnnvth of crimson clover, 
as, for instance, the state of Delaware, the clover 
unduly shades the rye, and in places where the oppo- 
site conditions prevail, the rye may unduly crowd 
the clover. But when both are kept grazed ofif, the 
author fails to see why these should not be grown 
with much advantage together in providing pasture, 
at least under some conditions. 

5. Rye may be pastured for a time in the spring 



l8o FORAGE CROPS. 

and still produce a good crop of matured grain the 
same season. The pasturing tends to make the rye 
stool more than it would without being pastured, 
but if the grazing is continued too long, the plants 
will be so weakened that the heads will be small, 
and, consequently, the yield of the grain will be light. 
The best time to remove the live stock cannot be 
stated, conditions vary so much, but the drier the 
weather, the ''slower" the soil, and the poorer the 
land, the earlier should the live stock be removed. 

6. If the rye should joint and so get beyond the 
power of the stock to feed it down, it should be 
plowed under, and not later than the earing stage. 
When thus buried, in a normal season, it will give 
the land much increased power to hold moisture. 

MIXED GRAINS. 

Pastures from cereal grains grown in combina- 
tion are not only more productive, relatively, in some 
sections than grass pastures, but they can be grown 
any season, hence they may be made to supplement 
the latter in whole or in part when they may have 
failed from any cause, or combination of causes. 
They are especially serviceable in providing pasture 
for sheep and swine, since they are injured less by 
treading than if pastured with cattle and horses, but 
on many of the western prairies they may be turned 
to excellent account in providing pasture for either 
cattle or horses. While these pastures are variously 
formed, the following are the more common of the 
mixtures sown, viz. : i, peas and oats ; 2, barley and 
oats; 3, wheat, barley and oats; and, 4, wheat, bar- 
ley, oats and rye. The place given to these pastures 



THE COMMON CEREALS. l8l 

in the rotation, the soils suitable to their growth, the 
mode of preparing the soils, of sowing the seed, and 
of feeding them off, are essentially the same. 

Distribution. — Although grain pastures may be 
grown successfully in any part of the country in 
which grain will grow successfully, they are espe- 
cially adapted to prairie soils, for reasons already 
given. The first of these mixtures is considered the 
most suitable in providing pasture for sheep and 
swine. Oats for seed may commonly be obtained 
cheaply, and pea vines furnish palatable and nutri- 
tious food. Peas would be much injured by the 
treading of horses and cattle. The second mixture, 
viz., barley and oats, is a favorite in providing pas- 
ture for swine, more especially in those portions of 
the northwestern states in which clover has not yet 
been successfully grown. But it will answer equally 
well in providing pasture for sheep, and in many 
parts of the country it can be more cheaply produced, 
since barley is cheaper, relatively, than peas. The 
third and fourth of the mixtures are more commonly 
sown to provide pasture for horses and cattle. Peas 
are not included in them, because of the injury the 
peas would receive from being trodden upon by the 
broad hoofs, and because of the greater relative 
dearness of the seed. In the upper Mississippi and 
Hudson Bay basins, therefore, they will render the 
best of service. 

Place in the Rotation. — These pastures may be 
given any place in the rotation that may be con- 
venient. When grass seeds are not to be sown upon 
them they may be grown upon land that is foul with 
weeds, for the reason, first, that the grazing of the 
pastures prevents the weeds from maturing their 



1 82 FORAGE CROPS. 

seeds, and, second, that the pasturing season is over 
sufficiently early to admit of following with a 
catch crop the same season, or of fallowing the land. 
Soils thus managed would be much cleaner at the 
close of the season than at its commencement. If, 
however, grass seeds are to be sown on these pas- 
tures, they should be grown only on clean land. 

Soils. — The most suital)le soils for these pas- 
tures are those ordinarily found on the northwestern 
prairie, that is to say, loam soils rich in humus, w'ith 
enough sand in them to keep them free-working, 
and, withal, resting on a subsoil of clay. Any soil 
that has been found peculiarly adapted to the produc- 
tion of heavy crops of grain will also grow good 
cereal pastures. And these may also be grown with 
much advantage on soils that produce straw too 
abundant and too weak for first-class yields of grain, 
since these pastures may be eaten down before the 
grain is far enough advanced to lodge upon them. 
In the northeastern states of the Union, and in the 
eastern provinces of Canada, soils of free texture 
sh(3uld be given the preference in growing these 
pastures. Infertile sands will not produce sufficient 
growth. And stiff clays would be greatly injured 
l)y eating down the pastures in a wet season. These 
pastures require soils that admit of early sowing, 
that will produce a quick growth, and that will 
not take serious harm by grazing the pastures 
when moist. 

Preparing the Soil. — As a rule, the ground 
should be plowed in the fall, but to this there may 
be some exceptions. It should be plowed in the fall 
that the seed may be sown u])on it early and for 
other reasons. Whether autumn or spring plowing 



THE COMMON CEREALS. 183 

is preferable will depend upon conditions of soil and 
climate. The best time for plowing land to produce 
a good grain crop will also be the best time to plow 
for cereal pastures, and this knowledge will be pos- 
sessed by farmers in their respective localities. It 
may be said, further, that the best preparation of the 
soil for grain production will also be the best prepa- 
ration for producing grain pasture. 

Solving. — The seed of each of these mixtures 
should be sown as soon in the spring as the ground 
is in a good condition to be worked. When thus 
sown, more food will be produced in an average 
season than if sown later. 

It is preferable to sow the seed with the grain 
drill, as it is then buried more uniformly than if cov- 
ered with the broadcast seeder or the harrow. The 
drill is also more economical of seed, and it puts the 
seed so far down that the young plants are not so 
liable to be torn out by the harrow when the latter 
is run over the ground subsequent to the sprouting 
of the seed. When labor is not pressing, it may be 
well to divide the seed into two equal lots and to 
sow it with two casts of the drill. The second cast 
should be made to run at a right angle across the 
first. The seed should be buried at the depth that 
has been found the most suitable for cereals as 
ordinarily sown. 

What is termed heavy seeding is preferred. 
The amount of seed best suited to the different kinds 
of soil will vary, hence it cannot be stated here, but, 
as a rule, it will prove satisfactory to sow not less 
than three bushels per acre of the combined grain 
mixture, of whatever varieties it may be composed. 

In determining the proportions of each variety 



184 FORAGE CROPS. 

of grain included in a mixture, no better general 
rule can be adoi)ted than to use by measure equal 
parts of each. But in some instances it will be 
advantageous to depart from this rule. In some 
soils, for exami)le, peas may grow much more vigor- 
ously than in others, and a less proportion of the 
peas would be required in these, and so of each of 
the other grains. The pasture produced by some 
cereals is better relished by certain kinds of live 
stock than that produced by others, hence more, 
relatively, of these should be sown. 

Barley is more relished by swine than oats, 
thus when these two are sown to provide swine 
pasture, more of the barley should 1)e used than of 
the oats. Indeed, barley alone makes an excellent 
swine pasture, but oats sown along with it prolongs 
the term of pasturing. Again, the seed of some one 
kind of grain may be so dear that it may be well to 
omit it from the mixture. Wheat, for instance, 
may be so much dearer than the other kinds of grain 
that it would not be advisable to sow it with them. 

Cultivation. — Oftentimes further cultivation is 
not needed after these mixtures have been sown, but 
in instances not a few the harrow may be used w^ith 
some benefit to the pastures, and more especially 
when a mixture of peas and oats has been sown. 
A light harrow only should be used, and with the 
teeth aslant, unless the surface soil has become 
encrusted. Usually the best time to use the harrow 
is just before the grain comes up. Harrowing helps 
to keep the soil moist and free from weeds. 

Pasturing. — The most suitable stage of growth 
at which to begin the pasturing cannot be stated, as 
it will vary with the character of the season, the 



THE COMMON CEREALS. 1 85 

extent of the pasture and other conditions. The 
more vigorous the growth of the plants, and the 
larger the area of the pasture in proportion to the 
live stock that are to feed upon it, the earlier should 
the pasturing begin. Ordinarily, it should be sev- 
eral inches high before turning in the live stock upon 
it. When it can be grazed so as to prevent the 
plants from reaching the jointing stage, much more 
pasture will be obtained than under conditions the 
opposite, since it will then grow again. 

Such pasture is excellent for all kinds of live 
stock. There is no danger that the animals will be 
injured by bloating when feeding upon it. But care 
should always be taken to avoid making a sudden 
change from all-grass pasture to all-grain pasture, 
lest disturbance should arise in the digestion. Such 
pasture is excellent in stimulating milk production, 
hence lambs that are still nursing grow rapidly upon 
it, and cows in milk produce abundantly. 

Sheep and swine may be allowed to remain 
upon grain pastures all the time, when the weather 
is dry, and the same is also true of cattle and horses, 
but it is not a good plan to keep the latter upon them 
all the time, more especially when the growth is 
somewhat advanced, as they injure it more by tread- 
ing and lying down upon it than they would if 
removed from the pasture when they had eaten a 
sufficiency of it. 

Observations. — i. It would be impossible to 
state just when one or another of these mixtures 
should be preferred under all conditions. However, 
peas and oats or oats and barley have been found 
very suitable in providing sheep pasture. Barley 
alone or with a moderate addition of oats makes an 



1 86 FORAGE CROPS. 

excellent swine pasture. And the combination with 
all the cereals in it is more frequently used in pro- 
viding pasture for cattle and horses. 

2. The aim should be to keep the stock away 
from these pastures when wet with rain, or even 
with heavy dew, and more especially when they are 
rank and advanced in growth. At such times tread- 
ing will soil and bruise them much more than when 
they are dry. 

3. If the pasture gets ahead of the live stock, 
that is, if it becomes so abundant that much of it 
cannot be consumed, it will serve an excellent pur- 
])ose if plowed under. But it ought to be thus 
buried while yet succulent, else in sections deficient 
in moisture it may not decay with sufficient rapidity. 

4. If these pastures could be eaten down, as it 
were, at successive stages, that is to say, by cropping 
them dowm and then removing the live stock entirely 
until considerable growth had again been made, more 
pasture would be secured than can be obtained by 
constant grazing. But to manage them thus is not 
always practicable. 

5. Winter rye may be sown with much pro- 
priety immediately after the grazing of these pas- 
tures has been completed, as it may then have a long 
period of growth before the closing in of winter. 

6. At the Minnesota University experiment 
farm, the author has met with encouraging success 
in sowing grass seeds at the same time that the 
grains were sown. A good stand of grass has thus 
been obtained during successive years from timothy 
and clover sown with peas and oats and eaten down 
by sheep. The treading of the sheep on average 
prairie soils thus sown would seem to be helpful 



THE COMMON CEREALS. 187 

rather than harmful to the grass. And the same 
would seem to be true of the treading of cattle, 
though in a less degree. 

PASTURING CEREALS WHEN YOUNG. 

On the rich soils of the upper Mississippi basin, 
cereals may oftentimes be pastured for a time by 
sheep with positive advantage to the crop. This 
has been demonstrated by individual farmers, but 
not with that exactness that could be desired. The 
sheep are allowed to feed upon the grain for a longer 
or shorter period, and then they are removed and 
the crop is left to mature. 

Benefits Resulting. — The following are chief 
among the benefits resulting from such depasturing : 
I, the treading of the land by the hoofs of the 
sheep tends to make it firmer, and because of this 
increased firmness, the loss of moisture from sur- 
face evaporation is materially lessened; 2, cropping 
off the grain when it is young tends to make it stool 
more, and consequently increases the number of the 
heads of the grain ; and, 3, the pasturing hinders that 
excess of growth in the crop which it would other- 
wise have on very rich lands in moist seasons, hence 
the liability to lodge is lessened and the energies of 
the plant are centered on producing grain rather 
than exhausted in producing an excess of straw. 

Mode of Pasturing. — The sheep may be put 
upon the grain as soon as it is far enough advanced 
to furnish them with food, or they may be allowed 
to roam over it from an adjacent grass pasture from 
the date of sowing. The duration of the pasturing 
will depend chiefly on the character of the season. 



1 88 FORAGE CROPS. 

In a season of much growth, the sheep may feed 
upon the pastures for a period considerably longer 
than in a season opposite in character. 

Good Judgment Required. — Good judgment 
must be used in thus pasturing off cereals. If the 
pasturing is too long continued the grain will not 
make sufficient growth. As the character of the 
weather subsequent to the removal of the sheep can- 
not be known beforehand, prudence would dictate 
their removal at an early period. The pasturing of 
cereals should probably not be attempted on land 
where the danger of an excess of growth is not immi- 
nent. Nor should sheep be used in thus pasturing 
off cereals on clay lands when these are wet, however 
strong the growth of the young cereals may be, as 
the impaction of the land that would follow would 
be more or less disastrous to the grain. 



CHAPTER IX. 

MILLET. 

Millet in all its species and varieties may 
be made to furnish food for live stock in the 
form of grain or seed, fodder, soiling food or 
pasture. More commonly, however, it is grown 
to provide fodder. For this purpose it is most 
excellent, especially in the smaller and finer 
growing varieties. But to furnish fodder at its 
best, it should be cut as soon as fully headed 
out, or very soon after reaching that stage, and it 
must be cured with care. Under favorable condi- 
tions, in some of its varieties, it produces enormous 
yields. Of the small varieties, however, the average 
yield may be placed at one to two tons per acre. If 
the seeds are allowed to mature or to approach 
maturity, the fodder rapidly becomes woody, hence 
its value for food is much impaired. When fed in a 
ripe condition, there is some hazard in feeding it 
indiscriminately to certain kinds of live stock, but 
this would not seem to hold true of millet hay cut 
at the stage indicated. It furnishes excellent soil- 
ing food and at a season when it is much needed. 

Heretofore, millet has not been much grown 
to provide pasture, but in this respect also it has a 
mission. On the bare fallow of the prairies it may 
be grown as a pasture with much success. In addi- 
tion to the food furnished, the land will be benefited 
by the treading of animals while pasturing upon it. 

189 



190 FORAGE CROPS. 

Nor would it always be necessary to replow the land 
after the millet when preparing- it for the crop 
which would next be sown. And on any farm 
where live stock are kept, it may sometimes be pas- 
tured with advantage. But because of its value for 
hay, and because of the ease with which it may be 
cured and handled as hay, it is usually considered of 
too much value to grow it as pasture. The pasture 
is much relished by all kinds of farm animals, since 
the leaf growth is abundant. But it is not equally 
so in the different varieties. 

There are many kinds of millet, and the dis- 
tinctions which characterize them have not hereto- 
fore been very clearly drawn. The following 
classification, however, submitted by the department 
of agrostology at Washington, D. C, would seem 
to be incomparably the best that has yet been made . 
It divides the cultivated millets into four groups, 
viz : The Foxtail, the Barnyard, the Broomcorn and 
the Pearl millets. 

The first group includes the varieties derived 
from the various species of the genus Chaetochloa 
(Setaria). To this group belong the common mil- 
let, the German, the Hungarian and the Golden 
Wonder. Common millet, of which there would 
seem to be several varieties, does not produce so 
abundantly as the other members of this group. 
The heads are small and likewise the seeds. Ger- 
man millet, sometimes called ''Golden," from the 
rich color of the heads, is characterized by a plentiful 
production of leaves. The heads are thick and 
heavy and are covered with short, fine hairs. They 
have a plump and heavy appearance when fully 
developed. Hungarian millet is sometimes called 



MILLET. 191 

Hungarian "grass." It has a long and slender head, 
and the heads are of a darker shade than those of the 
German variety. Golden Wonder millet produces 
large and long heads. The panicle is somewhat 
branched, that is to say, it is made up of many min- 
iature heads attached to the central stem of the same. 
This sort is well adapted to the production of 
grain. Of the Foxtail group the German variety is 
probably the best for pasture under average condi- 
tions, because of the abundance of the leaves which 
characterizes it. 

The Barnyard millets include the varieties 
derived from the common barnyard grass (Panicam 
crus-galli) and such related species as P. colonum 
and P. frumcntaccum. The Japanese kinds belong 
to this group. These are of much larger and coarser 
growth than the Foxtail millets. The leaves are 
very long, and as they approach maturity they 
become pendent. The heads are very large and 
produce an abundance of seed. The Japanese mil- 
lets are adapted to the production of soiling food 
rather than to the production of pasture, but under 
some conditions they may be grown for the latter 
purpose also. 

The Broomcorn millets are derived from Pani- 
cum miliaccinn. They are so named, doubtless, 
from the resemblance of the head or panicle to the 
brush on broomcorn. The varieties are exceedingly 
variable and are as yet not well understood in 
America, hence it is not possible to classify them at 
present with unerring accuracy. They are rela- 
tively better adapted to produce seed than to provide 
pasture. One variety of Broomcorn millet, now 
grown somewhat extensively in the northwestern 



192 FORAGE CROPS. 

states, is frequently called "lioj;* millet," from the 
extent to which the seed has been ^rown to provide 
food for swine. 

The Pearl millets include varieties belong^ing to 
the various species of Pciiiiisi'tiiiii. One kind of 
Pearl millet (PcniciUaria spicata) is sometimes 
called "cat-tail millet," from the marked resemblance 
of the ])anicle to the common cat-tail (Typha lat'i- 
folia) of the swamps. It is like corn in the tall and 
upri<;ht habit of its i^rowth. It is like teosinte in 
its tendency to produce an abundance o\ leaves and 
suckers, and it is like sorghum in its Ihibit of bearing 
seed on a head which grows on the upper extremity 
of the stem. Wlien jilanted on rich soil and culti- 
vated, it will grow to the bight of eight to ten feet. 
As many as nintr-five tons have been grown i)er 
acre on very rich land from three cuttings in one 
season. When cut off or eaten down it springs up 
again ([uickly and with much vigor. It should, 
therefore, be valuable as a pasture, as soiling food or 
as fodder, providing it is found sufticiently pala- 
table. If cut when approaching maturity, or 
even after the head has appeared it may be easily 
cured, and in the same manner as corn. But it is 
difficult to cure if cut before the heading-out stage. 
Some authorities speak discouragingly of its value 
as a i(MH\ for live stock. The exi)erience of the 
author in growing it at the Minnesota University 
experiment station will m^i permit the un(|ualified 
acceptance of such a view. 

Distribution. — Millet in one or the other of its 
varieties may be grown so as to mature its seed in 
nearly all j^arts of the ITnited States and Canada 
where the land is tilled. This wide distribution 



UlLLKT. 193 

arises from the short period reciuired to enable the 
crop to perfect its gnjwth. Some of the smaller 
varieties will mature in sixty to seventy-five days 
from the date of sowing, under favorable conditions. 
These conditions include a good soil, warm 
weather and a sufficiency oi moisture. In some 
portions of Canada, as Manitoba and Assiniboia, f(jr 
instance, these varieties do not recjuire a much 
longer ])eriod to mature their growth than in states 
far to the S(nith. This is owing to the heat and to 
the hmg hours of sunlight which characterize the 
summer days in these northerly climes. But, since 
some of the large varieties, as Pearl millet, for 
instance, re(|uire about 150 days to mature seed, 
these are not well adapted to being grown in the 
northern states to provide winter fodder. Some of 
the Japanese varieties, however, will perfect their 
growth in the inland portions of the continent as 
far north, at least, as the latitude of St. Paul. Since 
millet cannot flourish where the mean summer tem- 
l)eratures are low, it is somewhat lacking in adapta- 
tion to the maritime pnjvinces of Canada, as New 
Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. 
Nor has it special adaptation for the New England 
states, although good crops of millet may be grown 
in these. The mean summer temperatures of 
Oregon, Washington and British Columbia between 
the mf)untains and the sea are also rather low for 
millet, and the same is true of the elevated Rocky 
mountain valleys. In the lower of these, however, 
it will flourish if given moisture. In what is 
termed the dry belt west of the Mississippi river, in 
some seasons millet may fail because of the lack of 
moisture at the proper season for sowing the seed. 

13 



194 FORAGE CROPS. 

The prairies of the Mississippi hasin and its tribu- 
taries have marked adaptation for the growth of 
millet, and this adaptation would seem to be the 
most complete in loose soils not very well adapted 
to the growth of hay and some other grasses. 

riacc ill the Rotation. — Owing to the lateness 
of the season at which millet is sown, it is frecjuently 
grown as a "catch" crop, that is to say, as a crop 
where that which previously occupied the land has 
failed, or between two cn^ps. It may thus be made 
to come after winter wheat which has suffered so 
much from the severity of the winter weather that 
it is not worth while leaving it. It may come after 
spring grain that has succumbed to such adverse 
inHuences as frost, too much or too little moisture 
or to the ravages of insect i)ests. And with much 
appropriateness it may come after clover that has 
been winterkilled, for then nitrogen, its favorite 
food, is plentiful in the soil. But there is no place, 
probably, where millet can be grown with more 
appropriateness for pasture than when it is sown on 
the bare fallow. 

It is possessed of peculiar adaptaticni for being 
thus grown on the loose soils of western prairies, 
since these are usually improved rather than injured 
by being trodden upon by live stock. When thus 
grown it interferes with the growth of no other 
crop. It may be eaten off at any stage of growth 
desired, and without injury to the fallow in any 
instance where a due regard is had to the conditions 
while it is being grazed down. 

Millet may be followed by any crop that it is 
desirable to grow, but since it greedily preys uj^on 
the fertihty of the soil and absorbs much moisture 



MILLET. 195 

from the same, there may he seasons in which it 
would be unwise to follow millet with winter wheat 
or winter rye. But when the millet is pastured 
rather than made into hay, the drain upon the fer- 
tility and also upon the moisture in the soil is much 
less than when the millet is grown for hay or 
for seed. 

Soils. — The soils best adapted to millet are 
those rich in humus. Such are the soils of swamps 
and slough lands, basins or pockets surrounded by 
higher land, the lesser and also the greater valleys 
in' clay sections, and river bottoms in which sand is 
not present in any considerable proportion. Many 
of the soils of the prairie also abound in humus, 
especially when they are first broken, hence their 
high adaptation to the growth of millet. Muck 
soils are excellent when not too wet or too dry. The 
crop may oftentimes be grown successfully on these 
while yet undrained, after the saturating waters of 
the springtime have subsided. But on such lands 
the danger is imminent, in climates of ample rainfall, 
that the saturating waters may come again before 
the crop has been utilized. Medium to good crops 
of millet may be grown on clay soils amply supplied 
with moisture, but usually the growth on these is 
slow. Sandy soils are ill-adapted to its growth 
when low in plant food, and the want of adaptation 
in these soils increases with the increasing dryness 
of the climate. But the gray soils of the Rocky 
mountain valleys have much adaptation for millet. 
It is not so much needed in these areas, however, 
because of the wonderful adaptation of the soils for 
growing alfalfa. 

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the soil on 



196 FORAGE CROPS. 

which millet is to be sown, the aim should be to have 
it in fine tilth, clean and moist. With stiff clay soils 
a fine seed bed is absolutely essential to the success- 
ful growth of the crop. When millet is the only 
crop grown on the land during the season, there is 
ample time so to till the same that all the conditions 
named above shall be secured before the period 
arrives in which to sow the millet. They are secured 
by stirring the surface betimes in the spring before 
the seed is sown. This should not be neglected, 
whether the land is plowed in the fall or in the early 
spring, for when the land is thus harrowed at inter- 
vals, weed seeds that lie near the surface will be 
much reduced, to the great advantage of the crop. 
But when millet is grown as a catch crop, the season 
for preparing the soil is short, hence it may be nec- 
essary to make a free use of the harrow and roller to 
mellow sufficiently the upturned surface of the land. 
When it is sown as a catch crop on a bare fallow, 
there will be ample time to prepare the land in good 
form. If the land cannot be plowed until dry 
weather sets in, it ought to be rolled the same day 
that it is plowed, to assist in retaining the moisture. 
But when millet is sown as a catch crop, there are 
instances when plowing would not be necessary. 
Some form of cultivation would be sufficient. 

It is not customary to manure land when pre- 
paring it for millet, since it is seldom looked upon 
as a leading crop. There are few crops, neverthe- 
less, that will give a more liberal response to the 
application of suitable manures. These are manures 
rich in nitrogen and in an easily available form. 
None are more suitable than farmyard manures 
in a somewhat advanced stage of decay, and incor- 



MILLET. 197 

porated with the surface soil. But to get much 
benefit from mamu'es apphed just previous to 
the sowing of the crop, an ample supply • of mois- 
ture is needed. 

Sowing. — Since millet will not grow vigorously 
while the weather is cool, nothing can be gained by 
sowing it before the arrival of settled warm weather. 
It should not be sown sooner than the usual season 
for planting corn. But it may be sown considerably 
later than that season when the conditions as to 
moisture are favorable. Since some varieties of 
millet will mature in tw^o months or a little more 
than that from the date of putting in the seed, the 
sowing of millets may be continued until within 
sixty to seventy-five days of the usual season for 
early frosts. Millet in all its varieties is easily 
injured by frost. When grown for pasture, even a 
shorter period would suffice in which to grow it, 
since it would of necessity be eaten down before the 
plants had reached so advanced a stage of growth. 
If sown sooner than the season mentioned, the plants 
will start feebly, insomuch that no after conditions, 
however favorable they may be, can enable them to 
regain what they have lost in stamina. This has 
been demonstrated again and again by the author 
while growing millets. ' 

The mode of sowing will vary with circum- 
stances. More commonly the seed is now sown 
broadcast, but in some instances it is sown with a 
grain drill, all the tubes being in use. The latter 
method buries the seed more uniformly, and there- 
fore insures a more uniform germination when 
moisture is deficient in the surface soil. Some kinds 
of grain drills cannot be made to sow millet sufii- 



198 FORAGE CROPS. 

ciently thin unless the seed has first been mixed with 
some such substance as salt. 

Some kinds of millet, as, for instance, the Jap- 
anese, ought rather to be sown in drills or rows with 
space enough between them to admit of horse culti- 
vation. But when thus sown, the object sought is 
to obtain fodder rather than pasture. 

When Pearl millet is grown to provide soiling 
food in the cured form, it should probably be sown 
in drills (Fig. 23). At the Minnesota University 
experiment station good results were obtained from 
growing Pearl millet in rows thirty inches apart, 
but more experimentation is needed with reference 
to this question. In the south it may be necessary 
to have a greater distance between the rows. When 
sown for pasture it is also probable that Pearl millet 
will prove more satisfactory if sown in rows and 
cultivated. It may yet be found that good results 
will arise from sowing it broadcast and somewhat 
thinly to give the plants room to tiller. But it could 
never be thus grown successfully unless on 
clean land. 

When sown broadcast to provide soiling food 
or fodder, from two to four pecks of the seed per 
acre of the small varieties should prove ample. 
When sown to provide pasture, the amount of seed 
used should not be less than four pecks. More seed 
is required on worn land than on a new or rich soil, 
since in the former it does not tiller so much. 

When sown in rows for cultivation, a few 
pounds of seed per acre will suffice. The amount 
will vary with the distance between the rows and 
the plants in the line of the row, but in no case is 
the (|uantity large. At the Minnesota University 



MILLET. 



199 




:^-i i.irife.ia 



Fig. 23. Pearl Hillet Grown for Fodder. 

—Minnesota University Experiment Farm. 



200 FORAGE CROPS. 

experiment station six pounds of seed were found 
ample to sow one acre with Pearl millet when the 
rows were thirty inches apart. The seed may be 
sown with the ordinary press grain drill. 

The covering- given to millet seed ought to be 
light. If the roller is run over the ground before 
the seed is sown, it will be buried to a more uniform 
depth, especially when it is sown broadcast. And 
with soils that do not lift with the wind it will be 
advantageous to use the roller again soon after the 
seed is sown, when moisture is not present in suffi- 
cient quantity. Since millet is sown somewhat late 
in the season, every care should be taken to conserve 
ample moisture to give the crop a good start. 

Cultivation. — When millet has been sown 
broadcast, it would not be possible to run even a 
light harrow over the ground after the seed has 
germinated without injuring some of the young 
plants. And yet there may be conditions when the 
ground is so filled with weed seeds near the surface 
that harrowing the crop thus would result in an 
increased yield of millet. The aim should be to 
clean the soil as far as possible on the surface before 
sowing the millet. But when the seed has been 
buried with the drill it would be advantageous to 
run a light harrow over tlie surface with the teeth 
much aslant, just before the young plants have 
appeared. The after cultivation suitable for millet 
that has been thus planted is about the same as that 
which would be suitable for corn fsee Page 22). 
But in the case of Pearl millet cut for soiling food 
or even grazed down, the cultivation could be pro- 
longed till toward the end of the season. Cultiva- 
tion given just after the plants had been eaten down 



MILLET. 201 

and for some time subsequently, would enable them 
to grow up again more quickly and more vigorously 
than if such cultivation were not given. 

Pasturing. — Any class of live stock may be 
grazed upon millet. Sheep will injure it less 
through treading than other animals. The stock 
may be turned in upon it as soon as the plants are 
sufficiently well rooted to retain their hold upon the 
soil while it is being grazed. This period will vary 
nvith variations in soils, but usually it will arrive 
some days before indications of jointing manifest 
themselves in the plants. When sown on summer 
fallows where green manure is an important consid- 
eration, the millet may be allowed to reach a more 
advanced stage of growth before live stock are 
turned in upon it. The uneaten residue may be 
plowed under to benefit the soil. 

At the Minnesota University experiment sta- 
tion, Pearl millet has been grazed down, at least to 
some extent, by sheep. The results were not dis- 
couraging. The sheep fed upon it without hesita- 
tion, and when removed from the plot it sprang up 
quickly again. But it should not be allowed to 
become coarse and rank before turning in the sheep. 
Where sorghum can be grown in good form, how- 
ever, it is questionable whether, under any condi- 
tions, it would be more advantageous to grow Pearl 
millet for pasture. 



CHAPTER X. 



ROOT CROPS. 



Root crops can be said to be grown for forage 
only when the animals which consume them are 
allowed to feed upon them in the field where they 
grew. They harvest them without the aid of man, 
unless in so far as he regulates the freedom of access 
which they are given to these crops. The variety 
of root crops that may thus be harvested with profit 
is limited. On this continent the chief of these 
would be rutabagas, turnips and artichokes. Tur- 
nips are grown to a much greater extent than ruta- 
bagas and artichokes. 

RUTABAGAS. 

The term rutabaga (Brassica campestris) 
would seem to be American, in its application, at 
least, whatever may be said of its origin. In Britain 
and Canada this field root is known as the Swedish 
turnip. In Britain it has long been grown as for- 
age for sheep, but it is also grown there even to a 
greater extent for winter feeding. When grown 
for forage it is allowed to mature before being 
grazed ofi^. The grazing takes place in the late 
autumn and early winter months. In Canada it 
cannot be thus grazed off, unless in British Colum- 
bia, owing to the severity of the winter weather. 
And the same is true of nearly all parts of the United 

202 



ROOT CROPS. 203 

States that are well adapted to its growth. The 
exceptions are along the coast line of Washington 
and Oregon. In the United States and Canada, 
therefore, the rutabaga when grown is chiefly stored 
in cellars and pits and fed to the live stock in w^inter. 
It makes a grand winter food for all kinds of 
live stock. 

While the rutabaga can only be grazed off after 
the English method on the Pacific slope, or in cer- 
tain of the mountain valleys of the south and south- 
west, it can also be grown as pasture for sheep in 
many sections of the country by broadcasting it on 
certain soils and grazing it off before the season of 
hard frost. When thus grown it is usually on new 
lands, frequently spoken of as "breaking." This 
method of growing rutabagas is not likely to become 
very prevalent in this country. 

Distribution. — The rutabaga as a winter food 
for live stock has a wide range of adaptation. Like 
rape this plant is found at its best where the weather 
is moist and cool. But good crops can be grown in 
some of the western mountain valleys in which it 
cannot be said of the air that it is really moist. 
Western Oregon and Washington, near the sea, 
British Columbia and Ontario have special adapta- 
tion for rutabagas. In all the provinces of Canada 
east from Assiniboia they may be successfully 
grown, and also in all the states that border upon 
Canada, but not equally well in all parts of these. 
Rutabagas may also be grown further south, but 
not with the same success, unless in places with a 
sufficiently high altitude. 

Place in the Rotation. — The rutabaga crop 
should always be made a cleaning crop, save when 



204 FORAGE CROPS. 

the seed is sown broadcast. It may, therefore, with 
much propriety come after a succession of grain 
crops when the land has become weedy through 
growing these crops upon it thus, as it assuredly 
will become in time. Turnips will grow nicely in 
overturned sod lands when the sod is not too fresh 
and dense, but such lands are usually wanted for 
cereals because of their clean condition. A grain 
crop should follow the rutabaga crop, and because 
of the clean condition of the land, it would be well 
to sow grass seeds or clover seeds, or both, with 
the grain. 

Soil. — Rutabagas are partial to a deep, moist 
loam soil, with enough of sand in it to keep it friable. 
Clay lands, light sands and muck soils are ill-adapted 
to growing rutabagas. In the first, they start shyly 
and grow slowly, and the soil is also hard to till. In 
the second, there is not enough food or moisture to 
sustain a good growth, unless much fertilizer with 
the proper elements in it should first be applied, and 
in the third, the rutabagas make too much growth 
of neck and top and too little growth of bulb-like 
root. In some instances, but not always, gravelly 
soils grow good crops. The gray deposit soils of 
the higher Rocky mountain valleys also produce 
good crops of rutabagas. 

Preparing the Soil. — The same preparation of 
soil is wanted for a crop of rutabagas to be grown 
for forage as for a crop to be stored for winter feed- 
ing. Ordinarily the ground should be plowed 
deeply and in the autumn. On retentive soils the 
farmyard manure should then be applied and also 
plowed under. But in leechy soils the results will 
be more satisfactory if the manure can be spread on 



ROOT CROPS. 205 

the land, plowed or unplowed in the autumn, winter 
or quite early spring. Decayed manure is preferred, 
but when moisture can be relied on, manure in the 
fresh form will answer very well. 

While various commercial fertilizers have been 
applied in growing rutabagas, none has been so 
applied that has given more satisfaction than ani- 
mal superphosphate. Sometimes it is strewn over the 
land just previous to the ridging of the land for the 
crop, and sometimes it is drilled in with the seed. 
Whether the land should be plowed again in the 
spring, or simply disked, or otherwise cultivated, will 
depend upon conditions. If fresh manure has been 
strewn over the land, the plow will have to be used 
to bury it. When moisture can be relied on, there 
need be no hesitancy in plowing the land in the 
spring, even though plowed previously in the fall. 
But with a doubtful supply of moisture spring plow- 
ing should be avoided. In any event, the harrow 
cannot be used too freely in preparing the land. It 
is important that soil on which rutabagas are to be 
sown should be of fine tilth, moist and firm. 

New land on which a crop of rutabagas is to be 
broadcasted should not be deeply plowed, as the 
plants will then be able to feed more readily in the 
decayed vegetable matter. It cannot usually be 
plowed too early in the spring, nor can it be made 
too fine by the use of the harrow and roller. 

Solving. — Rutabagas are more commonly sown 
in raised drills, although it may sometimes be pref- 
erable to sow them on the level, as, for instance, 
when the land is liable to be short of moisture dur- 
ing the growing season. The cultivation is more 
easily done when the drills are raised, but if raised 



206 FORAGE CROPS. 

high the plants are more Hable to be injured by dry 
weather. The raised drills can best be made with 
a double mold-board plow and marker attached. 
They may also be made with a single mold- 
board plow, but they can only be made thus 
at a serious loss of time as compared with the 
other system of making them. The distance 
between the rows varies, say, from twenty-four 
inches to thirty-six inches, but the average distance 
is about twenty-six inches. 

The seed may be sown with a hand drill such 
as is used in a garden, when only a small quantity 
is to be sown, but when a large area is to be sown 
a drill made for the purpose of sowing field seeds is 
commonly used. It is draw^n with one horse, sows 
two rows of seed at a time, and a roller attached 
firms the earth over the seed. But when the 
weather is dry and the soil is not liable to blow, it 
will be advantageous to use the heavy field roller 
after the seed has been sown. 

From two to four pounds of seed are sown per 
acre, according to the more or less favorable condi- 
tions of soil and weather. The time for sowing 
will, of course, vary much with the locality. The 
further north, as a rule, the later should the sowing 
be, but the last half of May and the first half of June 
will pretty well cover the best season for sowing 
rutabagas. 

When the seed is broadcasted, it is sown about 
the season already mentioned, but on new lands the 
crop will sometimes be al)undant when sown later. 
It may be sown In^ hand or by the aid of a hand 
broadcasting machine, and at the rate of, say. three 
to four pounds of the seed per acre. A light har- 



ROOT CROPS. 207 

row sometimes, but not always, followed by a roller, 
may be used in covering the seed. 

Cultivation. — When rutabagas are sown in 
drills, the horse cultivation should begin as soon as 
the young plants can be distinctly traced in the line 
of the row. The cultivation ought to be deeper at 
first than later, and close to the rows, but not so 
close as to disturb the young plants. If, at the same 
time, the undisturbed portion of the soil is disturbed 
-with the hoe, but without cutting out any of the 
plants, the weeds can never again become so trouble- 
some along the line of the row. The cultivation 
given should be frequent, and it ought to be con- 
tinued as long as it can be done without breaking 
off any considerable proportion of the leaves of 
the rutabagas. 

When the plants have produced four or five 
leaves, or when they are three to four inches high, 
the thinning should be done and with much dispatch. 
The workman stands facing the row, and with a 
forward and backward movement of the hoe strikes 
out the plants that are to be removed. The distance 
between the plants may be varied from six to twelve 
inches, but it is not common to thin the plants to a 
greater distance than, say, nine to ten inches. 
And they shouM be gone over a second time with 
the hand hoe, to perfect the thinning and also the 
destruction of the weeds. When rutabagas are 
broadcasted they are not given any cultivation. 

Pasturing. — Rutabagas are more commonly 
grazed off by sheep. When the crop has been grown 
in drills the sheep are usually inclosed in hurdles, 
and these are moved from time to time, as required. 
The object of the hurdling is, first, to secure the 



208 FORAGE CROPS. 

eating of the crop with measurable cleanness, and, 
second, to secure an even fertilization of the land. 
Sometimes additional food is given to the sheep 
when they are thus being grazed, as, for instance, 
oil cake. Such food aids in fattening the sheep 
more quickly and also in fertilizing the land. 

Sheep may thus be grazed also on the broad- 
casted rutabagas when the growth is sufficiently 
pronounced to justify such a course. Otherwise it 
may prove a better way to allow them to have the 
freedom of the whole field when they are graz- 
ing it off. 

TURNIPS. 

The turnip (Brassica rapa) is of many varie- 
ties. They are sometimes called fall turnips, 
because they are more commonly fed in the 
autumn, whereas the Swedish varieties are more 
commonly fed at a later period. They are charac- 
terized by differences in the size, shape and color of 
the bulb, and by the habit of growth in the top. 
Compared wnth rutabagas they are flatter in shape, 
they grow more quickly and more above the ground 
and are less firm in flesh, hence they cannot be kept 
so long when harvested. They are more frequently 
grown to provide forage than rutabagas, because of 
their quick growing properties, and because it would 
not be so remunerative to harvest a crop that keeps 
but for a short time. Sometimes they are raised 
for forage by sowing the seed in drills and cultivat- 
ing the plants, but more frequently they are sow^n 
for this purpose in the grain fields. They furnish 
forage for all farm animals, but are best adapted to 
sheep and swine. 



ROOT CROPS. 209 

Distribution. — The distribution of fall turnips 
is much the same as that of rutabagas (see Page 
203). But fall turnips may be grown further south 
than the former, especially when grown late in 
the season. 

Place in the Rotation. — The place of fall tur- 
nips in the rotation is essentially the same as that of 
rutabagas, when they are grown in drills and culti- 
vated (see Page 203). Since they may be sown 
later in the season, where the climate is suitable, 
they may not infrequently be raised as a "catch 
crop," and after various crops, as, for instance, har- 
vested hay, grain or early potatoes, but never in the 
absence of moisture. 

Soil. — The soil for fall turnips is about the 
same as that which will be found adapted to ruta- 
bagas (see Page 204). The former will grow bet- 
ter, relatively, in what may be termed humus soils, 
hence they grow better than rutabagas in the black 
loam soils of the prairie. 

Preparing the Soil. — The soil is usually pre- 
pared for fall turnips in the same way as for ruta- 
bagas, when the crop is given cultivation (see Page 
204). But w^hen it is thus grown as a catch crop, 
much attention should be given to the retention of 
moisture in the soil. When sown in a grain crop 
the preparation of the soil will be the same, of 
course, as that given to it in preparing it for 
the grain. 

Solving. — When fall turnips are sown with a 
view to feeding them as soiling food in the early 
autumn, or to harvesting the crop for autumn feed- 
ing, the directions given for sowing rutabagas will 
equally apply to the fall varieties (see Page 205). 
14 



Jio FORAeii-: ckors. 

To i)n)vi(lc forage they are commonly sown with a 
winter grain crop, as wheat or rye, or witli a spring 
grain crop, as wheat, oats or barley. But they 
should not ordinarily he sown with a grain crop that 
has also been sown with grass seeds, for the pastur- 
ing in the autumn would very probably prove hurt- 
ful to the young grass. With a winter crop they 
should be sown early, so that it will not too much 
shade the plants while they are young and tender. 
With a spring crop they should usually be sown at 
the same time as the grain, but may be sown later. 

From one to two pounds of seed will usually 
prove sufficient to sow per acre. On winter grain 
crops the seed will have to be broadcasted. It should 
then be covered with a harrow. The harrowing 
will also be helpful to the grain when it is judici(msly 
done. ■ On spring grain it may be sown with the 
grass-seeder attachment of the grain drill when it 
has one, and except on stiff soils the seed should fall 
before the drill tubes. When the seed is thus 
dropped before the drill tubes it will be sufficiently 
covered. When it is sown just after the grain it 
will, in nearly all instances, be necessary to cover it 
with the harrow, except on lumpy (^r cloddy soils. 
On these the roller ought to be used rather than 
the harrow. 

If the seed should be sown just when the blades 
of the grain begin to appear, a light harrowing at 
that time will not only cover the seed, but it will be 
helpful to the grain, that is to say, when the soil is 
not too wet to be harrowed. 

Of the various kinds of spring grain, barley 
makes the best nurse cro]) for turnips, because of the 
less dense growth which it produces, and because 



ROOT CROPS. 211 

of its early removal. Oats is the most unsuitable as 
a nurse crop for reasons just the opposite. 

The value of the turnip crop for forage will 
depend much on the character of the season and 
soil. In any case, the turnips are not likely to grow 
so as to hinder growth in the grain crop. But 
under favorable conditions they will come on after 
the crop is harvested and will produce an excellent 
growth of top and root. In very dry seasons they 
may not give any return, but in turnip growing sec- 
tions it is seldom, indeed, that the crop will not be 
found worth more than the seed and the cost of 
sowing it. 

Pasturing. — The sheep or other live stock that 
are to be pastured on the turnips may be allowed 
freedom of access to the pastures after the first two 
or three days. And if they can have access to other 
grass pasture, the outcome will be still further satis- 
factory, for the danger of an unduly lax condition 
of the bowels is less likely to occur. The pasturing 
should be completed before the weather becomes 
really cold, for turnips freeze much more easily than 
rutabagas, and when hard frozen they should not be 
eaten by the stock. 

Observations. — i. When rape and fall turnips 
are thus grown together, the combination is an 
excellent one for sheep. The seed of each may be 
sown in ec|ual (|uantities. 

2. When fall turnips are thus sown with grain, 
the plowing of the land must usually be deferred 
until late in the season, and this is so far an objec- 
tion to the system. 

3. When the turnips grow to a large size, as 
they sometimes do, the largest are harvested and 



212 FORAGE CROPS. 

Stored away for late feeding before the graz- 
ing begins. 

ARTICHOKES. 

But few plants have been grown upon the farm 
with reference to which opinions differ so widely. 
Many of those who have grown the Jerusalem arti- 
choke (Helianthus tiiherosus) speak very highly of 
it, more especially as a food for swine. Others, 
again, look upon it as a nuisance on the farm, owing 
to the difficulty they have met with in cleaning the 
land of the plants. This difference in opinion may 
arise, first, from a difference in soils; second, from 
a difference in the methods of growing them ; third, 
from a difference in the varieties grown ; fourth, 
from a difference in the method of handling the 
crop after it has been grown; and, fifth from a dif- 
ference in handling the land when ridding it of the 
artichokes. That there is a place for the artichoke, 
especially as a forage for swine, should not any 
longer be questioned. The testimony sustaining 
this view comes from so many reputable men in 
various states, and from so many states, that it is 
not to be gainsaid. 

The artichoke is a tuber which bears consider- 
able resemblance to the potato, both in appearance 
and habits of growth. The tops, which frequently 
grow to a bight of six or eight feet, closely resemble 
the wild sunflower. The flowers are yellow, and 
seed is produced, though not so plentifully as by 
the sunflower. The tubers are more elongated and 
irregular in shape than those of the potato. They 
cluster more closely around the parent stem and yet 
they throw out runners at the same time which bear 



ROOT CROPS. 213 

small tubers. This it is that gives them so much 
power to completely occupy the land, since these 
small tubers, if allowed to remain in the ground, will 
throw up fresh plants. The tuber is less firm than 
that of the potato. The plant is extremely hardy, 
so much so that it may be allow^ed to remain in the 
ground all winter without being harvested. 

This plant is grown for table use and for dif- 
ferent kinds of live stock, to which it is variously 
fed. Its highest value comes from growing it for 
swine, and with a view to having the swine harvest 
the crop in the autumn or in the spring, but more 
especially in the autumn. The tops are sometimes 
fed as fodder to horses and cattle, but where other 
fodders grow freely, it would not be wise to set a 
high value on such fodder. 

The strong points in favor of the artichoke 
crop are found, first, in the large amount of health- 
ful food w^hich they furnish for swine; as high as 
700 bushels per acre are reported by farmers who 
have grown them for years, but the average yield 
would probably run from 300 to 400 bushels per 
acre, and in many instances it w^ould be less than 
these amounts; second, in the fact that the swine 
may harvest them; third, in their immunity from 
injury by frost, especially while not yet harvested; 
fourth, in the fact that they can be planted fall and 
spring ; and, fifth, in the number of successive crops 
that they will produce from one planting under cer- 
tain conditions of management. As many as seven 
successive crops have been grown without any inter- 
ruption, and under some conditions the growing of 
these successive crops could be further extended. 

The chief objections to their grow^th arise, 



214 FORAGE CROPS. 

first, from the difficulty sometimes found in ridding 
the land of them, and, second, from the impaction 
of certain lands which follows harvesting them by 
swine when those lands are unduly moist. These 
objections will be further considered elsewhere. 

There are several varieties of the artichoke. 
But two, however, would seem to have been exten- 
sively grown on this continent. These are the com- 
mon Jerusalem artichoke and the French Improved. 
The first is probably the hardier of the two. The 
second is more refined, and under favorable condi- 
tions may be expected to produce larger crops, and 
it is more easy of eradication. 

Distribution. — But few good plants are of wider 
distribution than the artichoke. There are few 
places in the United States or Canada where the soil 
can be tilled in which this plant cannot be grown suc- 
cessfully. And yet there are certain areas with 
much better adaptation to its growth than other 
areas. As it is a very hardy plant it can be grown 
on high altitudes, and yet if planted sufficiently 
early in the season it can be grown in the 
warmest valleys. 

In considering the highest adaptation in this 
plant it is necessary to bear several things in mind. 
These are, first, the soils and climates in which it 
will grow most readily; second, the soils in which 
it can be most easily harvested by swine ; third, the 
soils that will receive the least injury from harvest- 
ing the crop by swine in the fall or spring; and, 
fourth, the duration of the season for harvesting. 
It is very evident, therefore, that localities with con- 
ditions for producing the largest crops in the 
abstract are not of necessity the best in all-round 



ROOT CROPS. 215 

adaptability. For instance, though it were possible 
to produce a larger crop of artichokes in the soils 
around Winnipeg than in those around Kansas City, 
it would not follow that it would be more profitable 
to grow artichokes as forage for swine in the former 
soils than in the latter. The climate of Winnipeg 
would lock the artichokes in the ground for five to 
six months in the year, while the climate of Kansas 
City would not so lock them for more than a few 
, weeks. But for a crop to be dug and stored for 
winter, the former soils might be more suitable than 
the latter. Highest adaptation, therefore, is to be 
sought for in soils that will grow maximum crops, 
and in a climate where they may be harvested by 
swine during a large portion of the season which 
follows the maturing of the crop. And it will prob- 
ably be found in the alluvial lands of the Mississippi 
and its tributaries, but not very near the sources of 
these streams. 

Place in the Rotation. — Artichokes may come 
after any kind of a crop, but since they should be 
cultivated much the same as corn, they should natu- 
rally be given the place of a cleaning crop. How- 
ever, because of the difficulty that is frequently 
found in ridding the land of artichokes, they should 
always be followed by some kind of cultivated crop, 
as corn, for instance. But a crop that could be 
planted later, as rape, would be even better, as a 
longer period would then be given for cleaning the 
land before sowing the crop which follows the 
artichokes. 

When artichokes are grown as swine forage, 
however, it will frequently be found advantageous 
to grow them during successive seasons on the same 



2l6 FORAGE CROPS. 

piece of land for at least a limited term of years. 
When thus grown, replanting will not be necessary, 
and the labor of cleaning out the artichokes for the 
next crop in the rotation will be lessened in propor- 
tion as the term of growing the successive crops of 
artichokes is extended. 

Soil. — A soil that will grow artichokes in 
excellent form should be deep, moist, friable, free 
from stagnant water at all seasons of the year, and 
well filled with vegetable matter. Black loams, 
therefore, and muck soils will be found very suitable. 
Good crops may be grown on sandy soils in moist 
seasons, providing they have first been properly 
enriched, but not when the opposite conditions pre- 
vail. The sandy and alluvial soils of the Rocky 
mountain region should grow excellent artichokes 
when irrigated. Strong and even hard clays may 
produce good crops, but artichokes should not be 
grown on such lands as forage, since the swine can- 
not dig them except at the expenditure of too much 
labor, and if they are allowed to search for them in 
clay land when it is wet, it would become so 
impacted that for a time subsequent to such foraging 
it would be impossible to cultivate it without 
great labor. 

Preparing the Soil. — In preparing the land for 
artichokes, much will depend upon the season of 
the year when the sets are to be planted. When 
planted late in the fall it is not absolutely necessary 
to have the soil in tilth as fine as for spring planting. 
When planted in the spring the tilth should be fine. 
In the moist states of the east the aim should be to 
have the soil lie loosely upon itself, but in the more 
dry prairie soils the aim should be to have the land 



ROOT CROPS. 217 

firm. In either case, the plowing should be deep. 
Manure may be plowed in or put upon the surface 
before planting the crop or after planting, according 
to conditions. 

Solving or Planting. — Artichokes may be 
planted in the fall or in the spring. When planted 
in the fall, late planting will usually be found pref- 
erable, as then the winter frosts will not cut off the 
young growth. This would be seriously injurious 
To the plants when young. But in the spring the 
planting should be early, considerably earlier than 
would be safe in planting potatoes. When planted 
in the fall, whole tul^ers ought to be used. When 
planted in the spring, cut sets will answer, though 
perhaps not quite so well as medium-sized tubers 
planted whole. Deep planting is preferable to 
shallow planting, since it makes possible more 
thorough cultivation before the plants are up, and it 
further removes the feeding ground of the roots 
from the influences of surface evaporation. 

The planting may be done, first, by the ordinary 
potato planter, or, second, by making furrows or 
trenches with the plow at suitable distances and 
dropping the artichokes in these by hand. These 
furrows will vary from three to six inches in depth, 
according to conditions. The trenches may be cov- 
ered with the plow or the harrow, according to 
attendant circumstances. In slough lands that are 
dry enough for artichokes it may very well serve the 
purpose to drop the artichokes in certain of the fur- 
rows while the land is being plowed. 

The distance between the rows and also between 
the plants in the row varies, but the rows should not 
be nearer to each other than three feet, and the 



2l8 FORAGE CROPS. 

plants in the line of the row should not be nearer 
than eighteen inches. A greater distance between 
the plants will probably provide the largest yields, 
unless in soils deficient in fertility. 

Cultivation. — The first year the cultivation of 
artichokes should be thorough during all the early 
part of the season. The first harrowing should be 
given a few days after the artichokes are planted. 
The subsequent harro wings should ordinarily be 
from two to four in number, and they ought to be 
made before the plants reach the hight of, say, six 
inches. The horse cultivation should then begin. 
It ought to be given frequently, and it is important 
that it shall be shallow so as not to break the hori- 
zontal rootlets of the plants. 

When the crop is to be grown during successive 
years on the same land without replanting, the soil 
should be carefully harrowed, or otherwise leveled, 
every spring before other cultivation is attempted. 
As soon as the young plants appear, they should 
be all cut out with the cultivator, except such as are 
allowed to remain in narrow strips about three feet 
apart to form the rows. The cultivator should 
then be made to cross the rows likewise, but 
in the second instance the rows may be left 
somewhat closer. The artichokes will then grow 
at the corners of squares, or of rectangles, hence 
the cultivator may be used so as to run in vari- 
ous directions. The harrow will probably be the 
next implement to use, that the weeds around 
the plants may be killed. Horse cultivation should 
then follow, as previously described. 

Pasturing or Foraging. — The management of 
the foraging of this crop will vary with variations in 



ROOT CROPS. 219 

climate. In any climate, ordinarily, it ought to 
begin as soon as the crop has matured for the season. 
But in cool climates it is especially important that 
it shall begin early, for as soon as the ground freezes 
the foraging must cease until the following spring. 
It may then be resumed if the ground is not too 
moist, but generally the season for spring foraging 
is very brief, as the value of the tubers for feeding 
is much impaired after they begin to grow. 

When swine are foraging on artichokes, they 
may be given access to them at will. But when 
practicable it will also be better to allow them the 
option of feeding on other pasture, on the principle 
that a variety of suitable foods is beneficial. Whether 
they should be given additional grain food will 
depend upon the age of the pigs and the object 
sought in feeding them. Young pigs should be 
given additional grain food, as shorts, for instance, 
but brood sows will not usually require a grain por- 
tion. The exercise which the sows get in foraging 
for the artichokes is very beneficial to them, and 
more especially when they are pregnant. Pigs that 
are being made ready for fattening will do well on 
artichokes supplemented with grain, especially corn. 
But swine that are being fattened should not be 
required to labor so hard for their food. However, 
when they have been reared chiefly on a corn diet, 
such exercise, when not excessive, will tend to keep 
them in a healthy condition. 

Observations. — i. When artichokes are grown 
for successive years on the same land, well rotted 
manure may be advantageously applied to them by 
incorporating the manure with the soil while the 
land is being leveled in the spring. 



220 FORAGE CROPS. 

2. In preparing the soil for a crop which is to 
come after the artichokes, the plowing of the land 
should be deferred in the spring until the more 
advanced of the volunteer plants have reached the 
hight of twelve inches or more. If the plowing is 
done with due care, many of the artichokes that 
thus sprouted will die. The cultivation given to 
the crop that is then planted, along with some hand 
hoeing, should destroy the artichokes in a single 
season. 

3. Owing to the great yield that artichokes 
are capable of producing, it is not necessary to plant 
a large area unless where the herd of swine kept is 
numerically large. 



CHAPTER XL 

MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 

The plants which have been discussed in the 
preceding chapters have all been found more or less 
useful in providing pasture or forage for domestic 
animals, although experience in growing some of 
them for such a purpose has not been at all extensive. 
In addition to these there are a number of plants, 
the value of which in providing pasture has not been 
proved on this continent at all, or if so proved, it has 
been in only limited areas, although elsewhere, as in 
some parts of Europe, for instance, they have been 
found more or less valuable in providing pasture. 
Prominent among these are the following : The flat 
pea, sweet clover, yellow clover, Japan clover, sain- 
foin, spurry, kale, white mustard, lupines, sacaline, 
peanuts, the velvet bean, beggar's ticks and Austra- 
lian saltbush. Further experience is required in test- 
ing these plants on our continent before it would be 
possible to pronounce with even approximate cor- 
rectness as to their value in providing pasture or 
other food for live stock. But they should be tested 
by the experiment stations rather than by the farm- 
ers, since all experimentation is more or less costly. 
This is a work which the experiment stations are 
always ready and willing to take up, and carry on 
until tangible results are obtained. One object sought 
in referring to them here is to call attention to the 

221 



222 FORAGE CROPS. 

fact that their value in providing forage has not 
yet been determined. 

THE FLAT PEA. 

The flat pea (Lafhyrus syhestris) is a 
legume. It is perennial in its habit of growth. In 
appearance it bears no little resemblance to the "grass 
pea," which has been grown for many years in some 
sections of the United States and Canada. The 
seed is tardy in germinating. The plants grow 
slowly for a time. The first year the growth varies 
from six to twenty-four inches, according to the 
nature of the soil, climate and season. The next 
year and subsecjuently they should furnish from one 
to two or three cuttings, according to the conditions. 
Complaints have been made that the plant is a shy 
bearer of seed. 

The flat pea is certainly a hardy plant. When 
once established it will endure much drouth. At 
the Ontario experiment station at Guelph, it with- 
stood the cold of winter without apparent injury. 
It has also lived through several winters in the state 
of Michigan. At the University experiment station 
of Minnesota, however, it has in some instances suc- 
cumbed the first winter when planted in exposed 
situations. As to its duration, claims have been 
made for it that sound extravagant. It has been 
affirmed that the plants will live indefinitely, or at 
least from fifty to sixty years. At the Michigan 
experiment station, 41,185 pounds of green food per 
acre were obtained from two cuttings in one year. 
But it was found that the stock consumed the food 
with reluctance, whether fed in the green or the dry 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 223 

State. Of course if this experience should prove gen- 
eral there will be no place for the plant in the agricul- 
ture of this country, but conclusions should not be 
drawn hastily with reference to the palatability of 
fodder plants when but newly introduced. The 
taste of domestic animals is quite susceptible of cul- 
tivation. The limited quantities grown by the 
author in Ontario were apparently relished by the 
bovines to which they were fed in the green form. 

It is probable, however, that the flat pea will 
not become greatly popular in areas well adapted to 
the growth of clover, alfalfa and vetches. Nor is it 
likely soon to find a prominent place in regions 
where the rainfall is sufficient in a normal season to 
meet the needs of ordinary farm crops. If there is 
a place for this plant in the agriculture of the United 
States, it is likely to be found in the dry areas of the 
southwest and on lands in these which cannot be 
irrigated. And it is also probable that it will be 
found more valuable, relatively, in providing pas- 
ture for sheep than in growing soiling food. But 
experience with reference to pasturing the flat pea 
would seem to be wholly wanting in America. 

Because of the slow growth of the seeds of the 
flat pea, it has been recommended to start the seed 
under favored conditions, as in a bed prepared for 
the purpose, and then to transplant into rows where 
the plants are to remain. Such a process, however, 
would involve so much labor that it is not likely ever 
to come into general favor. Nor does it seem nec- 
essary, where the preparation of the ground for the 
seed has been given sufficient care. 

The soil for this plant ought to be porous and 
free from stagnant water in both soil and subsoil. 



224 FORAGE CROPS. 

since it feeds deeply. It should be so prepared that 
the weeds will not be superabundant while the plants 
are yet young. The seed should be sown in rows 
from two and one-half to three feet distant. The 
ground must be kept free from weeds the first sea- 
son by using the cultivator and also the hoe. And 
it is recommended that cultivation should also be 
given during subsequent seasons. But more expe- 
rience is required before pronouncing definitely on 
the necessity for such cultivation, and also on the 
benefits accruing therefrom. There are good reasons 
for continuing experimentation with this plant, espe- 
cially in the southwest and south. 

SWEET CLOVER. 

Sweet clover (Melilotus alba) is so named, 
doubtless, from the fragrance of the odor which 
characterizes it. It is also frequently called Bokhara 
clover. The two species, Melilotus alba, and yel- 
low sweet clover (Melilotus ofReinalis) are closely 
allied, but the blossom of the former is light colored, 
while that of the latter is yellow. 

Sweet clover is a strong, vigorous growing 
biennial. It is branched and upright in its habit of 
growth. It is one of the most hardy plants of the 
clover family. When once firmly rooted it has 
great power to withstand drouth and heat, and it 
can also endure low temperatures. Being a raven- 
ous feeder it is able to maintain itself in soils too 
poor to sustain other species of the clover family. 
The writer has succeeded in growing sweet clover on 
a vacant lot in St. Paul, from which several feet of 
the surface soil had been removed, insomuch that 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 225 

only sand and gravel remained. Moreover, it is a 
legume, and one which has much power to renovate 
soils. A plant, therefore, which is possessed of such 
powers should not be looked upon as worthless. 
That it is so is the popular idea. It has even been 
looked upon as a weed, and some countries and 
states have included sweet clover in the list of pro- 
scribed noxious weeds. 

But sweet clover has been grown to some 
extent to provide hay for live stock in the cured 
form, and also to provide pasture. And it has been 
grown to furnish food for bees when it is in bloom. 
It has been grown for all these uses in the south, 
more particularly in the states of the lower Missis- 
sippi basin. For providing hay it is not very suit- 
able, for the reasons, first, that it is woody and 
coarse in character; second, that it is difficult to 
cure ; and, third, that it is not much relished by live 
stock. They do not care to eat it when they can 
get a sufficiency of other food, as corn, sorghum, 
or other clovers. As a food for bees it is excellent, 
and if a part of the plot or field is cut before coming 
into bloom, the season of bloom will be much pro- 
longed. It is also sown along the sloping embank- 
ments and the sides of railway cuttings. The object 
sought is to prevent these from washing, and it has 
proved highly serviceable for the purpose. 

Sweet clover has not been much grown for 
pasture, but for such a use it may yet prove to be of 
value. When sheep have access to a variety of 
grasses they will probably pass sweet clover by, even 
when it is young and tender. But if confined to 
such a pasture when it first begins to grow they 
would soon begin to crop it down. To force ani- 

15 



226 FORAGE CROPS. 

mals thus to eat food under constraint is not good 
for them, but thus it is that in some instances sheep 
have to be confined on rape and forced to eat it 
through sheer hunger. In a short time they become 
very fond of the rape. So hkewise they may be 
taught to eat sweet clover. Of course where other 
and better kinds of clover w^ill grow, it would not be 
wise to trouble w^ith sweet clover. But in the semi- 
arid belt east of the Rocky mountains, and in the 
poor, sandy soils of the south, it may yet be found 
that an important mission awaits this plant, first, in 
growing a crop that will renovate the soil when 
plowed under and increase its power to hold mois- 
ture ; second, in furnishing food for bees ; and, third, 
in providing pasture. Hay should be sought from 
it the first year rather than the second. 

Sweet clover can only be sown in the spring or 
summer in very cold latitudes, but in those that are 
mild it can be sown in the autumn or spring, prefer- 
ably the former. Usually not less than fifteen 
pounds of the seed is sown to the acre. In the south 
it is frequently sown on the surface of stubble land 
after the crop has been harvested, and when thus 
sown it is simply covered by the harrow. If sweet 
clover is kept from blossoming, the land will soon 
be freed from it when it is so desired. Although 
sweet clover seeds profusely, the high price of the 
seed at the present time stands much in the way of 
extending its growth. 

YELLOW CLOVER. 

Yellow clover (Mcdicago lupulina) is sometimes 
called black medic. At other times it is spoken of 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 227 

as trefoil, but this term is not sufficiently specific. 
Nor is it to be confounded with hop clover (Trifo- 
liiim procumbcns), although there is much of resem- 
blance between the two plants. 

Yellow clover is perennial and recumbent in its 
habit of growth. It does not make sufficient growth 
to render it of much value for hay. But as a pas- 
ture plant it is, to some extent at least, deserving of 
a place in our agriculture. It bears seed profusely, 
•and as the season of bloom is prolonged when it is 
pastured, this plant has much power to re-seed itself 
and therefore to maintain its hold upon land where 
it has been grown. 

Yellow clover has special adaptation for soils 
well supplied with lime. On such soils it has in 
some localities almost assumed the character of a 
weed. But this can only happen in rainy climates. 
It will also grow in gravelly soils w^here some of the 
other varieties of clover would fail. The author 
has met with it growing in great luxuriance in a 
semi-wild condition on the coast of Puget Sound. 
It also grows freely in several of the northern states 
and of the provinces of the Dominion of Canada 
that lie eastward from Lake Huron. And it is 
probable that it may be grown with more or less 
success in all, or nearly all, the tillable portions of 
the United States and Canada. 

Where other and superior kinds of clover will 
grow freely, it is not necessary to give much atten- 
tion to yellow clover. But in permanent pastures, 
even among superior sorts, it has a place, since it 
comes on early in the season and grows vigorously, 
and it is fine and leafy when young. But as sum- 
mer advances it becomes woody and ceases to grow. 



228 FORAGE CROPS. 

As a pasture plant it is not the equal of white clover 
(Trifoliuin re pens), but it may be able to grow in 
some situations where white clover will not succeed. 
The seed of yellow clover is relatively cheap, 
hence to add one or two pounds of the seed per acre 
to a mixture to be sown for permanent pasture will 
not add much to the whole cost of the seed. When 
sown alone, from three to five pounds of seed would 
probably be ample. But it should only be thus sown 
to provide seed. The seed may be sown by hand or 
with some form of hand seeder, and covered with a 
light harrow or a roller, according to the character 
of the soil. When not sown to provide seed it ought 
to be made a part of a grass mixture rather than 
the sole crop. In such instances one to two pounds 
of seed per acre should suffice. 

JAPAN CLOVER. 

Japan clover (Lespedeza striata) is growing in 
favor in the south. It is said to have been first intro- 
duced into the United States from China, and has 
become prominent since the time of the civil war. It 
would seem to be adapted only to southern condi- 
tions and will probably never have a place among 
the pasture crops of the northern half of the United 
States or in Canada. It has been grown with no 
little success in all, or nearly all, the Gulf states. 

Japan clover is a low growing annual. On 
lands low in fertility it can only grow to the bight 
of a few inches, but on rich soils otherwise suitable 
it sometimes reaches the hight of sixteen inches or 
more. The leaves are triplicate. The flowers are 
numerous and blue in color. The plants produce 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 229 

seed abundantly. On lands not too foul with weeds, 
it is able to maintain itself for years by the process 
of self-seeding, if not kept grazed too closely or har- 
vested too early in the season. But if harvesting is 
deferred until some of the seed scatters, the feeding 
value of the hay will be lessened. 

As Japan clover is a legume, its growth is of 
course beneficial to the land. It is useful as a pas- 
ture crop and also in producing hay. The taste 
resembles that of white clover, and it is relished by 
live stock. Although it responds to cultivation it 
grows in a wild state in some parts of Louisiana. 
It starts late in the season and has no little power 
to withstand the influences of dry weather. It is 
what may be termed a summer or an autumn crop. 

In preparing the soil for Japan clover it ought 
to be given sufficient cultivation to clean it on and 
near the surface, otherwise on rich lands the weeds 
will greatly injure the growth of the clover. On 
poor land that is foul, the clover will better resist 
the encroachments of weeds than on rich land thus 
infested. It has some adaptation for hard, dry, 
clay soils, but will grow better on soils where the 
conditions are more favorable. As this plant does 
not grow until the weather becomes warm, nothing 
can be gained by sowing it earlier. For pasture or 
for hay, twelve to fifteen pounds of seed are sown 
per acre. Since it is a summer rather than a spring 
plant, the pasture which it furnishes is seasonable. 

SAINFOIN. 

Sainfoin (Onobrychis sativa) is sometimes 
called esparcette or asperset. The German spelling 



230 FORAGE CROPS. 

is esparsette. It is a legume of the clover family, 
which has special adaptation for limestone and dry, 
chalky soils. It has been grown in the south of 
England, in France and in other countries of Europe 
for several centuries. It has been made to render 
the best of service in providing pasture for sheep 
and soiling food and fodder for cattle and horses. 
In the south of England it is considered indispen- 
sable on many sheep farms, notwithstanding the 
excellence of the turnip crops that are grown 
on these. 

Sainfoin is a vigorous growing plant. It is 
branched and spreading. Its flowers are numerous 
and of a showy red color. It \y\\\ frequently pro- 
duce two or more cuttings of hay or of seed, and 
several cuttings of soiling food, in a single sea- 
son. But it is seldom advisable to seek two 
crops of seed in one season, since the first crop does 
not yield nearly so w^ell as the second. It is better 
practice to cut the first crop for hay, to use it as 
soiling food, or to pasture it, as in growing the seed 
of common red clover. This plant will retain its 
hold upon the soil for several years. But other 
grasses are much prone to crowd it out as it becomes 
older. In some instances it is only grown for one 
or two seasons, but usually the seed is too costly to 
admit of thus sowing sainfoin. 

In Europe it is common to sow the seed while 
yet in the seed sac, but it is not always sown thus. 
In the rough form from four to five bushels of seed 
per acre are used. When harvesting the seed much 
care must be exercised in handling the crop or much 
of the seed will be lost. It should not be handled in 
the heat of the day. And when being made into 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 23 1 

hay the same care is necessary or many of the leaves 
will be lost. Much care must also be given the seed, 
or it will heat and spoil. Inattention to this matter 
is largely responsible for the many failures to secure 
a good stand of plants. But it would also seem to 
be true that the seed loses its germinating power 
more quickly than the seed of many other legumes. 
Sainfoin, like clover, is very beneficial to the soils 
upon which it is grown. 

. But little attention has been given heretofore to 
the growing of sainfoin in this country. It is 
scarcely mentioned in the reports of the experiment 
stations. And yet it is not improbable that it may 
be turned to excellent account in furnishing food for 
live stock in some sections of the republic. The 
author has traced its successful growth in the vicin- 
ity of Deer Lodge, Montana. The grower prized 
it on account of the early season at which it fur- 
nished food. At the Ontario experiment station, at 
Guelph, the attempts to grow it were not encourag- 
ing. Unquestionably it ought to have a milder 
climate. It is probable that it will grow admirably 
in the coast states between the mountains and the 
sea. It ought to do well in the mountain valleys 
from central Montana southward. And there may 
be localities in the balmy Gulf states favorable to the 
growth of sainfoin. Beyond all question, this plant 
is worthy of more careful experiment than it has 
hitherto received. 

But why should the attempt be made to grow 
sainfoin where we can grow alfalfa, or clover? For 
the reason that there is less danger from bloating 
with the animals pastured on sainfoin. At least it 
has been so claimed. If this be true it invests sain- 



2^2 FORAGE CROPS. 

foin with a peculiar interest to those who grow 
sheep. A plant that will grow equally well, or 
nearly as well, as alfalfa where sheep are kept 
numerously, and that could be pastured by them 
without danger from bloating, would be a great 
boon to the owners of sheep, since they cannot be 
safely pastured on alfalfa. 

The preparation of the land for sainfoin is sub- 
stantially the same as for alfalfa (see Page 97). 
The seed in the rough form is commonly sown by 
hand, but there would seem to be no good reason 
why it should not be deposited with the grain drill. 
It may be sown with or without a nurse crop, accord- 
ing to the conditions. 

SPURRY. 

Spurry (Spergula arvensis) is looked upon as a 
weed in some of the light soils of Great Britain. 
This, at least, was true of it at one time. In Scot- 
land it was called yarr, and in Norfolk, pickpurse. 
In other countries of Europe, as, for instance, Den- 
mark, Holland, Belgium, and some parts of Ger- 
many and Russia, spurry is highly esteemed as a 
pasture for cattle and sheep, and it is also valued for 
its fodder. It has been found specially valuable 
as a pasture for sheep and milch cows. Animals 
pastured on it are not liable to injury from bloat. 
Though they may not take kindly to the pasture at 
the first, they soon get exceedingly fond of it, both 
in the green and cured form. It is also claimed that 
it has good milk producing and fattening properties. 

Spurry is a tiny-like plant which grows from 
a few inches to fully twenty inches in hight, accord- 
ing to the soil. The variety that has come into the 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 233 

market under the name of ''giant spurry" is simply 
the ordinary spurry. It is not capable of making a 
stronger growth than ordinary spurry, as the name 
would indicate. The stems of spurry are numerous 
and exceedingly branched. They are fine in char- 
acter, and they so interlace as to make it difficult to 
walk through the crop in an advanced stage of 
growth w^ithout tripping. The flowers are very 
many, are not more than one-eighth of an inch in 
diameter and are white in color. The seeds are 
small. They are contained in small seed heads 
resembling those of flax, but not more than half as 
large. They vary from dark brown to black in 
color. The plants seed profusely. On some soils 
the yield of fodder has been estimated as equal to 
that of clover, but ordinarily it would not be 
so much. 

The plant has special adaptation for light, 
sandy soils, and for climates that are moist. 
Whether it will be given a place of much prominence 
in our agriculture has yet to be determined. On 
productive soils it is not likely to come into general 
favor, since other plants equally nutritious will give 
greater yields. But on light, sandy soils low in fer- 
tility, it should render valuable service where mois- 
ture is sufficiently abundant. But few of the agri- 
cultural experiment station reports even mention 
spurry, hence testimony regarding its adaptation to 
our conditions is almost entirely wanting. It has 
been grown, however, on the light and infertile 
sands of the experiment sub-station at Grayling, 
Michigan, since 1888, and the reports concerning it 
are encouraging. When plowed under in the green 
form it has been found specially helpful in giving 



234 FORAGE CROPS. 

"body" to the light, sandy land and in otherwise 
fitting it to grow successfully crops of clover and 
grain. At the Minnesota University experiment 
station, spurry has not proved altogether satisfac- 
tory thus far. The growth secured has not been 
sufficient to make it a competitor with some 
other crops. 

Spurry should be sown more as a catch crop 
than as a regular crop in the rotation. It should be 
ready to pasture or to plow under in from six to 
eight weeks from the date of sowing, providing it is 
not sown before the weather has become warm. 
Where there is moisture enough to insure germina- 
tion, spurry can be sown after a grain crop, and 
simply covered with a harrow. On the bare fallow 
it would also seem to have a place. When grown 
as a green manure or as a pasture for sheep, two 
crops a year may be secured, and in some climates 
three. This crop, therefore, would seem worthy of 
attention on the part of our agriculturists, more 
especially on ''pine lands" where the soil is sandy 
and poor and where the climate is moist in 
character. 

Since spurry is best adapted to light, sandy 
lands, but little labor is necessary in preparing the 
soil. The seed should fall on a smooth, impacted 
and fine surface, and it may be scnvn and covered in 
the same wav as clover seed. As the seed is small, 
a light harrow will give a sufficient covering. From 
six to eight quarts of seed are sown per acre to pro- 
vide pasture, fodder or green manure. But a less 
quantity will suffice to produce a seed crop in good 
f(^rm. Tt is ready to cut for hay after the seed has 
formed and before it is ripe. The seed may be liar- 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 235 

vested and threshed Hke clover seed. When grown 
for the seed, a sufficient quantity is Hkely to shatter 
out to produce a crop the next year, by simply run- 
ning the harrov^ over the land in the early spring. 

Spurry has been called ''the clover of light, 
sandy soils," because of its value in improving the 
same, both in texture and fertility, v^hen grown as a 
green manure. It should be turned under with a 
light furrow that the plant food may be kept near 
the surface. If some of the seed is allowed to ripen 
before the crop is thus buried, another crop of spurry 
will grow above the decaying plants without the 
necessity of sowing any more seed. Under some 
conditions it is possible to plow under three crops 
of spurry in one season. 

KALE. 

Kale is a variety of Brassica oleracea, the 
species of cruciferous plants to which cabbage, 
cauliflower and Brussels sprouts belong. Ordi- 
narily, it means any variety of headless cabbage 
which produces curled and crinkled leaves, but in 
some varieties the leaves are smooth. In some of 
its varieties it is grown in kitchen gardens for its 
leaves. These are variously cooked, as for greens, 
for potherbs, or as a component in making some 
kinds of soup. In certain parts of Virginia, much 
kale is grown and shipped to the northern markets 
in winter. In Great Britain some varieties of kale 
are grown to provide green food for sheep and lambs 
at certain seasons of the year, but more especially in 
the early spring. One variety is very much 
branched. It is popularly spoken of as ^'thousand- 



236 FORAGE CROPS. 

headed kale." It produces fine and tender herbage, 
whicli is greatly relished by lambs, and is also very 
suitable for them. Kale bears no little resemblance 
to rape in what may be termed its general habit of 
growth. It produces only leaves and stems the first 
season, and in these its virtue consists as a pasture 
or as a soiling food. The common varieties of kale 
do not seem so well adapted as rape to furnish either, 
since, on many soils at least, they do not grow so 
quickly, nor do they produce so much in bulk. 

The trial plots grown at the Minnesota Uni- 
versity experiment station proved fairly satisfactory. 
When sown late in Alay, the plants were ready for 
being fed off by the middle of July. Those not 
used as food at that season lost what may be termed 
their bloom, while the hot weather lasted, but when 
the autumn rains began to fall, they measurably 
revived and retained their greenness until the 
approach of winter. 

Kale is adapted to the same kinds of soil as 
rape (see Page 152). The preparation of the soil 
is also the same. But it will probably be found that 
kale is not so well adapted to broadcast sowing as 
rape, since it is not so vigorous a grower. When 
sown in rows these should not be closer than twenty- 
four inches. The directions given for sowing rape 
in rows will apply equally to kale. From one to 
two pounds of seed will be sufficient to sow an acre. 

The wisdom of sowing such varieties of kale to 
provide pasture as are usually grown in our gardens 
is at least to be questioned. Dwarf Essex rape will 
probably better serve the end sought. But the 
variety grown in Great Britain as ''thousand-headed 
kale" may yet be given an important place in our list 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 237 

of pasture plants. On the coast of the Atlantic 
there should be a place for this plant, and also on the 
coast of the Pacific. But when it is to be used as a 
spring pasture, it can only be grown in mild lati- 
tudes. It should certainly be given careful experi- 
mentation in the areas referred to. 

MUSTARD. 

The only species of mustard that have been 
extensively grown as field crops are known as black 
and white mustard, respectively. Black mustard 
(Brassica nigra) is known also as brown or red 
mustard. Formerly it was extensively grown for 
the seed in Great Britain and certain other countries 
of the continent of Europe, and in some localities it 
is still looked upon as a valuable crop. It has been 
objected to as a regular rotation crop, first, because 
of its exhaustiveness on the land; second, because 
of the liability to damage through discoloration of 
the seed, as by rain when it is being harvested, and, 
third, from the danger that plants from the seed will 
spring up and make trouble in succeeding crops. 

White mustard (Brassica alba) is distinguished 
from the black by its stems being covered with rough 
leaves and by the pods terminating in a broad two- 
edged beak. The seeds are of a pale yellow color. 
This kind is also frequently grown for the seed. 
A good crop in Great Britain yields from thirty 
to forty bushels per acre. It is sometimes grown 
for being plowed under. It is excellent for such a 
use because of its rapid growth and bulky character, 
because of the large proportion of the food which it 
gathers from the air, and because of the ameliorating 



238 FORAGE CROPS. 

influence which it exerts upon the soil. But it is 
grown even more frequently as a catch crop to pro- 
vide pasture for sheep, and more especially in sea- 
sons when turnips have failed. In the climate of 
England it is ready for being pastured or plowed 
under at eight weeks from the date of sowing, when 
it is not sown sooner than the last half of July nor 
later than the end of August. In the Mississippi 
basin, and indeed in the major portion of the United 
States, it should grow even more quickly, because of 
the higher mean summer temperature. Some day, 
therefore, there ought to be an extensive place for 
this plant in our system of agriculture. There is 
ample time to grow it after many crops have been 
harvested. On fallow lands and especially on those 
of the prairie there should be a place for white mus- 
tard. When grown on these it could be wdiolly 
grazed off by sheep. If too abundant to admit of 
its being all eaten, after the depasturing the residue 
could be plowed under with great advantage to the 
succeeding crop or crops. 

White mustard will probably grow in any of 
the tillable portions of Canada or the United States 
where the land is supplied with a sufficiency of mois- 
ture, whether obtained from a natural or an artificial 
source. On the valley soils amid the Rocky moun- 
tains it should produce large yields of seed, because 
of their richness in phosphoric acid. The high price 
of the seed may interfere with the extensive growth 
of this plant at the present time, but it would be 
easy indeed for the farmer to grow^ his own seed. 
The author grew it to some extent at the Ontario 
government experiment farm, at Guelph, where it 
yielded seed profusely. Nor is there any real diffi- 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 239 

culty in ridding the land of the plant where seed has 
been grown, as in the case of black mustard. 

When grown as pasture or as green manure, the 
seed may be broadcasted on nicely pulverized land 
and covered with the harrow. From ten to fifteen 
pounds of seed would be ample to sow an acre, and 
on soils rich and in a good condition of tilth, prob- 
ably half that amount would suffice. The seed 
should not be sown until danger from frost is past, 
as mustard plants are much susceptible to injury 
from frosts at any stage in their growth. In warm 
weather they grow with great. rapidity in light soils. 

When mustard is grown for sheep pasture, it 
may be sown alone or in conjunction with rape. It 
is believed that when sheep are pastured on a mixed 
crop of rape and mustard, they are less liable to take 
injury from bloat than when pastured on rape alone. 
In other words, the mustard would seem to lessen 
the hazard. One chief objection to mixing the seeds 
of mustard and rape to produce such a crop arises 
from the greater quickness with which the mustard 
grows. It is ready for being pastured sooner than 
the rape, hence by the time the rape is ready, the 
mustard has become in a sense woody. The leaves 
and pods will be eaten, however, though the stems 
may be rejected. This difficulty may be obviated, in 
part at least, by sowing the mustard in one or more 
portions of the pasture later than the rape. 

Mustard alone is not a sufficient pasture for 
sheep. When feeding on it they should also have 
access to grass or other pasture. Although it fur- 
nishes a healthful food for them, it may lead to purg- 
ing when they are first turned in upon it if allowed 
to pasture upon it at will, and the danger is all the 



240 FORAGE CROPS. 

greater if they have previously 1)een accustomed to 
dry pasture only. It is ready for being grazed off 
when the plants are forming flower buds. And it 
should be eaten down quickly because of the short- 
ness of the period which it requires to mature. 

THE LUPINE. 

There are many species of the lupine genus. It 
belongs to the Pulse or Legtuninosae family. Sev- 
eral species were known to the ancients and culti- 
vated by them as food for man and beast. In the 
United States the species are numerous, and they 
are found chiefly west of the Rocky mountains. 
Their agricultural value does not appear as yet to 
have been determined. In the eastern states there 
are several species, with flowers ranging from blue 
to white in color, and some of these are cultivated 
in gardens. 

Of the sorts now grown in Europe, the 
white lupine (Lupinus albiis) is by far the most val- 
uable. It is still extensively cultivated, in Italy, 
Sicily, and other Mediterranean countries for forage, 
for plowing in to enrich the land and for its round, 
flat seeds, which form an article of food. The cul- 
tivation of the lupine in Portugal has proved a great 
national blessing, and has regenerated large tracts 
of wornout land. In Germany and other countries 
of western Europe, great use is made of this plant in 
bringing fertility to poor, sandy lands too poor to 
grow other food crops profitably, until so renewed. 

The white lupine is an annual. It derives its 
name from luptis, a wolf, in allusion to its voracious 
qualities, that is to say, to the greedy way in which 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 24I 

it gathers plant food from the soil. Its long roots 
strike deeply into the same, and appropriate to them- 
selves whatever they find there capable of nourish- 
ing them, and when again plowed under they leave 
the food thus gathered near the surface, and in a 
readily available form, so that it can be easily taken 
up by more shallow rooted plants. The strength of 
the plant will of course depend upon such conditions 
as climate, soil and soil constituents. The young 
^plants are readily eaten by sheep, and some of the 
other domestic animals. At least, so it is claimed 
by many authorities. The author has only grown 
lupines to a limited extent, and not with results 
highly encouraging. The tests were made in the 
province of Ontario. In central Michigan, several 
varieties, after numerous trials, have uniformly made 
a slow, sickly growth. The seeds are not looked upon 
as being of great commercial value. The greatest 
value of the lupine arises from the enrichment 
which it brings to poor soils, as light sands, gravels 
and thin clays. 

The white lupine has not been much grown 
in this country, hence information regarding it is 
meager. The localities, therefore, in which it is 
likely to flourish cannot now be given with precision. 
But there would seem to be no good reasons why it 
should not be made to render valuable service in pro- 
viding pasture for sheep and in bringing fertility to 
poor, sandy and gravelly soils in such portions of the 
United States and Canada as are favored with a 
moist summer climate. Such are certain of the 
soils of New England, northern Michigan and Wis- 
consin and the Atlantic provinces of Canada, and 
such is the climate in these localities. The same is 
16 



242 FORAGE CROPS. 

also measurably true of portions of the Gulf states, 
and lupines may also have a mission in renovating 
worn soils in the same areas. The agricultural 
experiment stations can soon determine this question. 

SACALINE. 

Sacaline (Polygonum Sachalinense) has been 
given more attention by experimenters in our agri- 
cultural colleges than many other plants more 
deserving of investigation. In field experiments at 
the experiment stations, the claims of some plants 
for investigation would seem to come at high tide, 
while the claims of some other plants rich in promise 
have been but little heeded. The experiments thus 
made with sacaline, however, have been valuable in 
determining so quickly the comparative worthless- 
ness of sacaline as a forage plant or as a fodder 
plant in the United States. In this finding the 
reports are practically vmanimous. 

Only two or three years ago certain of the seeds- 
men were extravagant in their recommendations of 
sacaline. They claimed that it was a most vigorous 
grower, that it would flourish in almost any kind of 
soil, wet or dry, loamy or tenacious, light or heavy, 
rich or poor; that it would furnish several cuttings 
a year; that it was highly nutritious, and that live 
stock were fond of it. No one of these claims has 
been verified in any considerable degree by the 
reports that have been published regarding it by the 
various experiment stations on this continent. At 
the Minnesota University experiment station, the 
growth made in any one season has been inconsider- 
able. The plants soon became woody, and the live 
stock could not be induced to eat it. 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 243 

Sacaline is said to have come from the island of 
SaghaHn or SakhaUn, in the sea of Okhotsk, between 
Japan and Siberia. It is shrub-Hke and leafy in its 
habit of growth. It is more commonly propagated 
by means of root cuttings. It is of more than one 
variety, and this fact may be measurably responsible 
for the almost universal condemnation given to it in 
America. In some parts of Europe it has found no 
little favor. In the meantime the farmers of this 
continent will do well to leave sacaline in the hands 
of the agricultural experiment stations. 

THE PEANUT. 

The peanut (Arachis hypogaea) is variously 
known by such names as goober, earth nut, ground 
nut, pindar, ground pea, jar nut, manilla nut and 
monkey nut. It is an annual and belongs to the 
Pulse family. The habit of the growth is trailing 
The branches are numerous and likewise the leaves. 
The latter bear no little resemblance to clover leaves. 
After blossoming, the little pods bend down and 
thrust themselves into the ground. The cultivation 
adopted still further aids in burying the fruit of this 
plant. It matures, therefore, below the surface of 
the ground. Within the shell or kernel one, two or 
three irregularly ovoid-shaped seeds are produced. 

The peanut is a tropical or sub-tropical plant 
and is adapted only to warm climates. Botanists 
are not agreed as to whether it is a native of Africa 
or America. For a long time it has been much 
grown in America, Africa, India, China, and the 
islands of the Malayan archipelago. It can be 
grown in fairly good form in all the states of the 



244 FORAGE CROPS. 

Union south of the 40th parallel, that is to say, south 
of the latitude of Indianapolis. 

This plant has hitherto been grown chiefly as 
an article of commerce. It is cultivated much the 
same as Indian corn. The fruit is sold somewhat 
extensively as food in all cities north and south, and 
it is made into an oil that is used as a lubricant and 
also for lighting. 

In some of the southern states it has been grown 
as a food for live stock and more especially as a for- 
age for swine. Since it is adapted to sandy land it 
may be grown on large areas in the southern states. 
The yield in some instances is not much less than 
forty bushels per acre, but ordinarily it is consider- 
ably less than that amount. Whether it shall come 
to be generally grown as a food for swine may 
depend somewhat on the market values of the fruit. 
Swine are fond of the nuts, and when thus fed the 
labor of digging is avoided. 

THE VELVET BEAN. 

The velvet bean (Dolichos miiltifloriis) is a 
plant which has only recently been brought before 
the American public. It has been grown for several 
years in Florida, but rather as a trellis shade than 
as a food plant or a fertilizer. It is said to have 
been imported into Florida from Brazil, and into 
the test gardens of some seedsmen from Japan. Its 
precise value to the United States has yet to be 
determined, although there can be but little question 
that as a food plant and also as a source of fertility 
it may yet be made to bestow much benefit on the 
more southern of the Atlantic states and also on 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 245 

those which border on the Gulf of Mexico. But 
present indications would seem to point to the con- 
clusion that it is not likely to be extensively grown 
much further north than the areas named, since it 
requires a comparatively long season to mature its 
growth. 

The velvet bean is of a trailing habit of growth. 
The vines run out from the hills in every direction 
and to the distance of ten to twenty feet. It com- 
j^ences to fruit near the hill, and thence along 
the whole length of the vine at intervals. The 
pods appear in clusters and they contain each 
from three to five beans. They are thick and 
leathery and of a brown color. The surface of 
the pod is velvety in character, hence the name given 
to the plant. 

The velvet bean has highest adaptation for 
sandy soils, and on these its power to grow is so 
marked that it will push ahead where rye will grow 
but feebly. Since it requires a long season for per- 
fecting its growth, it should be planted reasonably 
early in the spring. Much has yet to be learned 
about the best methods of growing it, but some 
experimenters favor planting in hills in squares four 
feet distant. Other growers recommend planting at 
a greater distance. From three to five seeds are 
sufficient for a hill. Careful cultivation should then 
be given in due time and this ought to be continued 
as long as the work can be done without injury to 
the extending vines. 

It is claimed that stock eat the velvet bean with 
avidity when green or cured and that it makes 
a valuable hay. But these claims should be re- 
ceived with some reserve until they have been 



246 FORAGE CROPS. 

farther attested. It must surely be somewhat 
difficult to harvest a plant for hay which grows 
as the velvet bean does. But there can be but 
little doubt as to its unusual power to grow even 
in poor soils and to bring fertility to them. Its 
power to produce root tubercles is marked, and 
the mass of foliage with which it covers the 
soil is very great, hence when this leguminous 
plant is buried with the plow in the green form 
it not only adds much to the fertility of the land, 
but it greatly increases the power of the same 
to hold moisture, at least for a time. 

beggar's ticks. 

Beggar's ticks (Dcsmodinm tortuosum) , some- 
times called beggar weed, is an annual, and it 
is, moreover, a legume. It is a vigorous grower 
and it has much power to grow on poor soils. 
During recent years it has come into considerable 
favor in Florida and some other parts of the south 
as a hay producing plant, and since it grows again 
when eaten off or cut down and is also relished by 
live stock, it should have considerable merit as a pas- 
ture plant. At the Minnesota University experiment 
farm, plants from seed sown in May were coming 
into flower in September. The plants are sturdy 
and branching and are somewhat coarse because of 
the space given them to branch out. 

It is at least questionable if as good results will 
be obtained from growing beggar's ticks for pasture 
as from growing cowpeas where the latter do well, 
but this question does not appear to have been settled 
as yet. Since it is able to fight its own battle in the 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 247 

companionship of many noxious weeds and since it 
is an enricher of the soil, its merits are not to be 
overlooked. 

The very best methods of growing- it do not as 
yet appear to have been wrought out, but it can be 
grown by sowing the seed broadcast or in drills and 
cultivating it. The former method will probably be 
preferable when it is grown for pasture. Because of 
the branching nature of its growth and of the 
strength of the stems when not crowded, the seeds 
should be sown thickly. And since they germinate 
slowly when encircled by the outer covering they 
should be sown in the fall rather than in the spring 
where the winters are not too severe. This plant 
should also be more easily harvested for fodder than 
cowpeas. It is not probable. that beggar's ticks will 
render much service north of the Ohio river, but in 
many sections of the south it is certainly well worthy 
of most careful testing. 

AUSTRALIAN SALTBUSH. 

The Australian saltbush is of many species. 
The most useful of these that have yet been 
tried under American conditions is that known 
as Atriplcx semihaccata, introduced into Califor- 
nia in 1888. This plant is a child of semi-arid 
regions. It is possessed of peculiar power to 
grow in soils strongly impregnated with alkali. It 
furnishes both pasture and hay which are more or 
less relished by domestic animals. It has given 
encouraging returns in certain areas of California 
where the rainfall was less than five inches per 
annum. And, since it is easily established under suit- 



248 FORAGE CROPS. 

able conditions, it should therefore prove of much 
value in providing forage and fodder in very con- 
siderable areas of the western and southwestern 
states. 

The species of saltbush under discussion is 
spreading and drooping rather than erect in its habit 
of growth. The stems branch out very numerously 
from the crown, and branchlets covered with long 
narrow shaped leaves multiply on them in a marked 
degree. The outer stems, therefore, are fine and 
very numerous, but toward the base the larger stems 
become more or less woody (Fig. 24). The plants 
bear no little resemblance to the Russian thistle at 
various stages of their growth. The habit of root 
growth is much dependent on the character of the 
soil. In suitable soil the tendrils are numerous. 
They spread out not very far below the surface and 
throw down numerous rootlets into the subsoil 
below. On hardpan, however, they send a taproot 
far down, with but few rootlets on it. 

Australian saltbush has already been tried with 
more or less of success in various counties of Cali- 
fornia, as described in Bulletin No. 125, issued by the 
experiment station of that state. The same is true 
of the more limited experiments conducted in Utah, 
Washington, Nebraska and various places in Texas 
and New Mexico. 

Where semi-arid conditions prevail is unques- 
tionably the place for this plant, and more especially 
on lands so impregnated with alkali as to practically 
forbid the successful growth of more valuable food 
products in the absence of irrigation. It may, 
therefore, have an important mission for many sec- 
tions of the United States eastward from the Missis- 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 



249 



3 

O K) 

» > 

^ C 

-* w 

':t. 5' 

r 3 

S «^ 

O f*- 

P CD 



2 




250 FORAGE CROPS. 

sippi basin and up to that as yet undetermined north- 
ward hmit which will hinder its successful growth. 
That its growth will be profitable where other and 
more palatable food crops can be grown is not at 
all probable. 

The best modes of growing this plant have not 
yet been fully wrought out, but it is pretty certain 
that the practice of sowing the seed on well prepared 
land as soon as the first autumn rains come is a com- 
mendable one. It will be better probably to sow in 
rows, that the land may be kept free from intrusive 
weed growth for a time and from, say, six to eight 
or ten feet should be close enough for the row^s, since 
in some instances plants reach out and cover a cir- 
cumference of sixteen to eighteen feet, but that is 
very much more than the average diameter of the 
plant. At the Minnesota University experiment 
station, seed sown in May produced plants fully 
three feet in diameter by September ist. The method 
sometimes practiced of starting the plants in pots 
and then transplanting them is too laborious for 
common practice over large areas. As they seed 
plentifully, the volunteer plants soon fill up the 
vacant space when at least a portion of the seed is 
allowed to shatter out. On alkali lands the seed will 
germinate better when simply pressed into the 
ground with a heavy roller than when covered, but 
on other soils it should be covered lightly. 

Much conflict of opinion has been expressed as 
to the feeding value of Australian saltbush, but the 
difference relates more to palatability than to nutri- 
tion. There can be no question as to its valuable 
nutritive properties, since it stands high in protein. 
Some growers claim that stock will not eat it, but 



MISCELLANEOUS PLANTS. 25 1 

a majority of these state that horses, cattle, sheep 
and goats are fond of it and thrive well on it. Where 
more palatable plants cannot be grown, the classes of 
domestic animals named will probably become fond 
of it, while those fed on more tasty products will eat 
it very shyly, as do sheep at the Minnesota Univer- 
sity experiment station. 

On the whole, the Australian saltbush is well 
worthy of wide and careful experimentation in all 
the semi-arid country in the United States. Infor- 
mation on the very best modes of sowing, pasturing, 
cutting and curing this plant, and of saving the seed, 
is not as yet forthcoming, at least under American 
conditions. Such knowledge will have to be gleaned 
from experiments not yet undertaken. 



CHAPTER XII. 

SUCCESSION IN FORAGE CROPS. 

By succession in forage crops is meant that 
order in which they may be grown throughout the 
season so as to provide pasture in uninterrupted con- 
tinuity, and so that each kind of forage may be 
grazed when at its best. The treatment of this 
question is difficult because of the great variation in 
the forage crops that are adapted to various sections 
in the wide area under consideration, and because of 
the no less variation in the climates of the same. 
No better plan, probably, can be adopted than to 
divide the country into sections, and to formulate a 
succession in forage crops that would be suitable to 
each. This division should, of course, have a due 
regard to similarity in conditions such as relate to 
climate and soil. 

The various forage crops will be enumerated in 
the order in which they are usually ready for being 
grazed. They are not thus enumerated wath the 
idea that the farmer shall grow all of them, or even 
a majority of them, in a single season. It would 
seldom be wise for him to do so. But they are men- 
tioned in the order named that he may the more 
readily select such of them for being grown as shall 
best suit his purpose. Where grasses are a sure 
reliance, it will seldom be necessary for the farmer 
to grow more than one, two or three kinds the 
same year. Forage from grass should always be 

252 



SUCCESSION IN FORAGE CROPS. 253 

looked upon as the great reliance for pasture, 
wherever such forage grows freely, whether spon- 
taneously or otherwise. Other forage crops should 
be made auxiliary to it, unless the growth of grasses 
is so meager as to forbid giving these so prominent 
a place. Wherever practicable a reserve of grass 
forage should be held, as it were, for seasons of wet 
weather and for those periods of emergency when 
other forage crops may not be on hand or may not 
15e ready for being grazed. 

Grouping States and Provinces. — For the prac- 
tical illustration of this question, the United States 
and Canada may be divided into eight sections. 
Beginning at the northeast. Section No. i will 
include all the arable country east of Lakes Superior 
and Michigan and north of the Ohio river. Section 
No. 2 includes the states west of Michigan and Ohio, 
north of the Missouri and Ohio rivers, taking in 
Manitoba, and east of the Dakotas and Assiniboia. 
Section No. 3 includes the states south of the Ohio 
and east of the Mississippi, and also the states of 
Louisiana, Arkansas and Missouri, west of the Mis- 
sissippi. Section No. 4 includes the states west of 
Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas and Louisiana, south of 
Dakota and east of the Rocky mountains. Section 
No. 5 covers the states and provinces of Canada 
west of Minnesota and Manitoba, north of Nebraska 
and east of the Rocky mountains. Section No. 6 
includes the Rocky mountain valleys north from 
Salt Lake. Section No. 7 includes the Rocky moun- 
tain valleys south of Salt Lake and extends west- 
ward to the sea. And Section No. 8 includes the 
narrow area north of California and between the 
Cascades and the sea. 



254 FORAGE CROPS. 

And here it ought to be mentioned, that of 
necessity these divisions are more or less arbitrary. 
The factor of altitude alone may so affect plant 
growth as to materially neutralize the value of any 
attempts that may thus be made to illustrate succes- 
sion in forage crops. Wind currents also have their 
influence, and likewise precipitation. 

Succession in Section No. i. — The rainfall in 
Section No. i is more abundant and timely than in 
any of the other sections, unless it be in No. 8. The 
soil is also well adapted to the growth of grasses, 
hence in this section every reasonable effort should 
be made by the farmers to utilize grasses as factors 
in forage. The influences that are so favorable to 
grass pastures are also favorable to the growth of 
variety in forage crops, hence the list of these that 
may be grown in succession is a long one. Promi- 
nent among these crops are winter rye, blue grass 
and other grasses, clover, mixed grains, as peas and 
oats, rape, vetches and cereals, corn and rape, sor- 
ghum, millet, clover, rape, winter rye and rape, cab- 
bage and blue grass. These are mentioned in the 
order in which they are naturally in season for being 
pastured, but this order may be modified by the time 
at which they are sown or planted. For cattle, the 
more valuable of these are grasses and clovers, and 
next in point of value are mixed grains and sor- 
ghum. For sheep they are all possessed of much 
value, but after grass, none are more valuable than 
rye, sorghum and rape. With the aid of these three, 
sheep may be carried through any season in good 
form. For swine, clover and rape are the most 
valuable, and to these may be added peas and arti- 
chokes, not enumerated in the list given. 



SUCCESSION IN FORAGE CROPS. 255 

Succession in Section No. 2. — ^The succession 
in forage crops that may be grown in Section No. 2 
includes winter rye, blue grass or native prairie, 
alfalfa, clover, mixed cereals, rape, corn, corn and 
rape, sorghum, millet, clover, cowpeas, soybeans, 
rape or turnips or the two mixed, cabbage and 
blue grass. In this section much of the soil 
is richer than that of Section No. i, but the 
rainfall is not distributed so regularly, and the 
climate is warmer in summer, hence it is not 
quite so well adapted to the production of grasses. 
But it is better adapted, relatively, to the growth 
of such foods as corn and sorghum, or indeed 
to the growth of any of the pasture foods named 
which admit of being grown quickly. Less 
dependence should be placed upon grass forage than 
in Section No. i, and more dependence, relatively, 
on such forage as is furnished by mixed grains, win- 
ter rye, rape, corn and sorghum. In the northern 
areas of the section, winter rye, clover and alfalfa 
cannot be grown with profit for forage, and in the 
southern part only can cowpeas and soy beans be 
grown with advantage. The forage crops other than 
grass that can be grown most successfully for cows 
and other cattle in all parts of this section are such as 
mixed grains, corn in summer fallows and millets. 
The more important of these crops that can be grown 
for sheep in all parts of the section are winter rye, 
sorghum, rape and turnips. The more valuable of 
the same for swine are mixed grams and rape. Of 
course in the southern half of the section, clover can 
be utilized with great advantage as swine pasture, 
and in the northern half the same is true of field peas. 

Succession in Section No. j. — The succession 



256 FORAGE CROPS. 

in forage crops that may be grown in Section No. 3 
includes besides certain grasses, winter rye, rape, 
crimson clover, alfalfa, the winter vetch and the 
sand vetch, mixed cereals, corn, sorghum of the 
saccharine and non-saccharine varieties, millet, cow- 
peas, soy beans, artichokes and peanuts. The more 
important of these forage crops include winter rye, 
rape, vetches, the sorghums and cowpeas. The 
three first mentioned will be specially valuable in 
cool weather, and the two last mentioned in the 
warm season. The mission of cowpeas in provid- 
ing forage and soiling food in nearly all parts of 
the section may be made especially important. 
Mixed grains are considered of too great value to 
grow as forage in much of the area named. The 
more valuable of these forage crops for cattle are 
winter rye, the sorghums and cowpeas. The more 
valuable of the same for sheep are winter rye, rape, 
vetches, the sorghums and cowpeas. And for swine 
the more valuable are winter rye, rape, alfalfa, cow- 
peas, artichokes and peanuts. This section is favor- 
able to the growth of certain of these crops in con- 
junction, as, for instance, winter rye and rape and 
cowpeas and sorghum. 

Succession in Section No. 4. — In section No. 4 
the succession in forage crops, in addition to certain 
native grasses, will include winter rye, the sand 
vetch and possibly other varieties of vetch, alfalfa, 
corn, saccharine and non-saccharine sorghums, cow- 
peas, soy beans and rape. The more valuable of 
these crops in furnishing forage for cattle will 
include winter rye, sorghum, cowpeas and the soy 
bean. These also, along with vetches and rape, 
would all provide good forage for sheep. For swine 



SUCCESSION IN FORAGE CROPS. 257 

the more valuable of these forage crops will include 
alfalfa and cowpeas. In some parts of the section, 
forage crops will be grown under irrigation. The 
rape plant will not be so valuable, relatively, as in 
some other parts of the country, because of the 
drouth and heat. Nevertheless, it should be given 
a place. But the sorghums and soy beans will be 
quite valuable, relatively, because of their drouth- 
resisting properties. 

• Succession in Section N^o. 5. — In Section No. 
5 the succession in forage crops, in addition to the 
wild grasses of the prairie, will include winter rye, 
rape, mixed grains, peas, vetches, corn or corn and 
rape, sorghum, turnips and cabbage. Winter rye 
cannot be grown in all portions of this section, espe- 
cially the north and northwest. Corn and rape can 
be grown with much advantage, particularly on the 
wide areas of fallow land that are usually found in 
the section every year. But in growing corn for- 
age, a due regard must be had to choosing seed of 
the hardy varieties. Rape and turnips may be 
safely sown with nearly all grain crops. And pas- 
tures from mixed cereals will grow well when sown, 
in nearly all parts of the section. Sorghum may be 
utilized with no little advantage, but the climate is 
too cold, except in the extreme southern portion, 
for the non-saccharine sorghums. In much of the 
section peas can be grown in good form, more espe- 
cially toward the north. The more valuable of the 
forage crops for cows include mixed cereals, corn 
and rye. To provide sheep pasture, all those named 
except peas may be grown with much advantage. 
And for swine, the more valuable will include rape, 
mixed cereals and peas. Rape may be turned to 
17 



258 FORAGE CROPS. 

excellent account in providing swine forage, espe- 
cially when sown early. 

Succession in Section No. 6. — In Section No. 6, 
in addition to certain native grasses, the succession 
in forage crops will include winter rye, alfalfa, clo- 
ver, mixed cereals, peas, vetches, sorghum and rape. 
Alfalfa and clover may not succeed in the extreme 
northern portion of Section No, 6, but in the more 
southern valleys of the same they grow wonderfully 
wtU when supplied with water. Mixed cereals 
grow admirably under similar conditions, but where 
clovers will grow the same necessity does not exist 
for growing cereals for forage. The most impor- 
tant of these forage crops for cattle in this section 
is clover, next in order is winter rye, and after win- 
ter rye mixed cereals. These are all important for 
sheep and are easily grown for them, and, of course, 
rape and sorghum may be added to the list. Alfalfa, 
clover and peas are the most important for swine. 
With such pastures for swine, pork should be pro- 
duced very cheaply and of unsurpassed quality in 
Section No. 6. 

Succession in Section No. 7. — In many parts of 
section No. 7 the native grasses grow very shyly, 
because of the dry weather. More reliance, there- 
fore, must be placed on the other crops that may be 
grown for forage. The succession in these includes 
winter rye, alfalfa, the saccharine and non- 
saccharine sorghums, the cowpea, soy beans, the 
sand vetch and rape. Much of the crop could only 
be grown by irrigation. Because of this, however, 
the succession in the crops could be more perfectly 
controlled than where irrigation is not practiced, 
and in the absence of a regular and reliable rainfall. 



SUCCESSION IN FORAGE CROPS. 259 

In the succession those pasture crops could be given 
the preference which grow again and again, as, for 
instance, alfalfa and the sorghums. For cattle the 
more important of these forage crops would be sor- 
ghum and the cowpea in summer, and alfalfa in win- 
ter. But the alfalfa thus pastured in winter should 
be grown chiefly in the late summer and early 
autumn. The more important of these crops for 
sheep would be winter rye, the sorghums, the sand 
T^etch and rape. And for swine the most suitable 
pasture crops would be alfalfa, soy beans, cowpeas 
and rape. 

Succession in Section No. 8. — In Section No. 
8 the succession in forage crops is varied and com- 
prehensive, more so, probably, than in any other 
part of the United States. It includes native grasses 
and nearly all the cultivated varieties that are grown 
in permanent pastures, clovers in all the important 
varieties, vetches in several varieties, as the winter, 
the common and the sand vetch, alfalfa, mixed 
grains, rape, cabbage and artichokes. The soils of 
this section are possessed of unsurpassed adaptation 
for growing clover in any of its varieties, and also 
for growing all, or nearly all, the grasses that are 
grown in western Europe. And the moist charac- 
ter of the happy climate would seem to keep these 
growing and therefore succulent during much of 
the year. It would be possible, therefore, to secure 
succession in forage from grasses alone. It is also 
probable that rape could be so managed that it would 
produce forage during much of the year, and the 
same is true of mixed grains. In growing these, 
great use could be made of peas or vetches, or of 
both, because of the marked adaptability of the 



26o FORAGE CROPS. 

country for growing them. It would also be an 
ideal land for artichokes because of the long season 
for pasturing them off. In this section, therefore, 
the question is not so much which are the crops that 
may be grown in succession, as which are the crops 
which shall be chosen for being thus grown. Cattle 
could be kept very nicely nearly all the year on grass 
and clover pastures, and the same is true of sheep, 
and they could be finished on rape in the autumn or 
in the early spring. Swine could feed on clover, 
alfalfa and artichokes nearly all the year, and they 
could be finished on peas. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

SHEEP PASTURES GROWN AT THE MINNESOTA UNI- 
VERSITY EXPERIMENT FARM. 

During the past three years experiments have 
been conducted in growing various kinds of pasture 
for sheep at the Minnesota University experiment 
farm. This work was begun and carried out under 
the supervision of the author. It is unique in char- 
acter and the results obtained have been not a Httle 
remarkable. Only the merest outline of the work 
can be given here, though every detail thereof should 
be of interest to the flockmaster. 

Objects Sought. — The following are chief 
among the objects sought in the experiment, viz. : 
I, to ascertain the extent to which sheep may be 
confined with safety to pastures other than those 
provided by the ordinary grasses without endanger- 
ing their good health; 2, to ascertain the various 
plants that are the most suitable to provide such 
pastures, and also the relative suitability of these; 
3, to ascertain the best modes of growing them and 
of pasturing them when grown ; 4, to ascertain the 
maximum amount of sustenance that could thus be 
procured for sheep under the conditions, or, in other 
words, to find out how many sheep could be sus- 
tained on a limited area and also the mutton product 
therefrom for the season; and, 5, to ascertain the 
influence of such a system of pasturage upon the 
cleaning of the land and also upon the maintenance 
of fertility in the same. 

261 



262 FORAGE CROPS. 

It is evident that some of these problems, 
because of their comphcated character, can never be 
carried to what may be termed an absolute demon- 
stration. Approximate results only can be obtained 
and that is all that is claimed for the findings that 
are submitted below. 

Outline of the Experiments. — The experiments 
were begun in the spring of 1895. During that 
year some fifty-three head of sheep and lambs were 
pastured for many days on the forage that grew on 
two and three-fourths acres of land. The pasture 
consisted of winter rye, rape, peas and oats, vetches 
and oats and sorghum. During the intervals in 
which these plants failed to provide a sufficiency of 
grazing, the sheep were given grass pasture. 

In 1896, an average of eighty-six head of sheep 
and lambs were grazed during the whole season of 
pasturage on ten acres of land. Nearly two-thirds 
of these were mature sh^ep. The grazing began 
May 1st and it ended November ist. The pasture 
was not supplemented by any grain except for a 
short period at the first, w'hen the change was being 
made from dry winter food to succulent pasture. 
In addition to the pasture, 8,60 tons of cured fodder 
and 7.30 tons of soiling food were taken from the 
same ten acres. The cured fodder consisted of hay 
made from grass, peas and oats, and the first cutting 
of sorghum. The sorghum was injured by rain 
w^hile it was being cured and was not much relished 
by the sheep. The chief of the crops grown were 
winter rye, fall and spring sown peas and oats, rape, 
corn and rape, sorghum, Kaffir corn, cabbage, rape 
and winter rye. 

In 1897, an average of ninety-three head of 



SHEEP PASTURES. 263 

sheep and lambs were pastured on practically the 
same ten acres from April 26th to November 5th. No 
grain food was given after the change had been 
safely made from a winter to a summer diet, except 
to eight rams and ram lambs that were being reared 
for sale. In addition to the pastures, 10.33 tons of 
dry fodder were obtained from the land and also 
10.39 tons of soiling food. The fodder was made 
up of grass hay, pea and oat hay, corn well 
advanced in growth and mature sorghum. It was 
all of excellent quality. The varieties sown were 
substantially the same as those sown the previous 
year, but there were some variations in the combina- 
tions sown and in the order of the succession. 

The Sheep While on Pasture. — In 1896 and 
also in 1897, two and one-half acres of the ten acres 
were in grass pasture. In 1896, clover predomi- 
nated in the pasture, and in 1897 timothy was in the 
ascendant. The sheep were grazed on this pasture 
when the other pastures were too wet because of rain 
or dew. The sheep barn, a view of which is repre- 
sented in Fig. 25, stood in the portion laid down to 
grass. In the heat of the day the sheep were given 
the benefit of the cool shade furnished by the barn. 
At night they were also inclosed in the yards sur- 
rounding the barn to protect them from dogs. Cor- 
ralling them thus at night would, of course, not be 
necessary under ordinary conditions, nor is it any 
advantage to their well-being. 

SUCCESSION IN THE CROPS GROWN. 

Winter rye was ready for being pastured sev- 
eral days in advance of blue grass and fully four to 



264 



FORAGE CROPS. 




SHEEP PASTURES. 265 

five weeks of any of the spring sown cereals (Fig. 26 
shows sheep pasturing on rye), and, with the excep- 
tion of cabbage, it was the last crop that furnished 
good pasture in the autumn. It was also found that 
rye sown early enough in the autumn to become 
firmly rooted was ready to pasture much earlier and 
provided pasture more abundantly than rye put in 
so late that it had not become so rooted before the 
closing in of winter. Rye and grass pastures, 
therefore, carried the sheep from the opening of 
spring until some time early in June. The spring 
sown winter rye did not prove altogether satisfac- 
tory as a pasture. It grew luxuriantly for a time, 
but it ceased to grow when settled warm weather 
came. Later, it turned russet in color and 
finally died. 

Peas and oafs were the next crop ready. They 
were sown as soon as the work could be done after 
the dawn of spring. The pasture which they fur- 
nished was greatly relished by the sheep. In one 
instance the pasture was grazed down three times 
in succession with an interval of two weeks or more 
between the periods of grazing. Rape was then 
sown on the same ground. In another instance they 
were grazed off three times in succession, as just 
stated, after which the clover and timothy sown at 
the same time as the grain were given time to gather 
strength to fortify the plants against the rigors of 
winter, and in other instances the peas and oats were 
grazed down once, after which the second growth 
was mown for hay. Figure 27 represents a rape and 
clover pasture. The ''catch" of the grass seeds thus 
obtained was all that could be desired. But the 
tests thus made have covered only two seasons. In 



266 



FORAGE CROPS. 




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SHEEP PASTURES. 267 

1897, the clover blossomed and produced much seed, 
but the crop was left to enter the winter undisturbed. 

Rape was the next pasture ready. It, too, was 
sown as soon as the ground was suitable, and it was 
sufficiently grown for being grazed just after the 
first grazing of the peas and oats. In one instance 
it was eaten down four times during the season. 
Figure 28 represents the grazing of this crop the sec- 
ond time it was eaten down. In another instance it 
Vas grazed off twice and then the clover sown along 
with the rape was allowed to grow undisturbed. In 
yet other instances it was allowed to approach the 
maximum of full growth, and after being grazed 
down was followed by such crops as sorghum, or 
cabbage. More food w^as obtained from the last 
named method, but it also involved more labor. 
Rape was also sown at various times as the season 
progressed, so that a reserve of rape pasture was 
usually on hand when wanted, from the middle of 
June until the end of October. In point of pala- 
tability rape should probably be given the first place 
among the forage plants that were grown. 

The first grazing of the rape was no sooner 
completed than corn, or corn and rape sown 
together, was ready. Corn that had reached a foot 
in hight never grew again when eaten down. In 
some instances, therefore, this crop when consumed 
was at once followed by another crop, as rape, sor- 
ghum, or rape and winter rye. But in one instance 
the rape was allowed to produce a second growth, 
with results that were on the whole encouraging. 
More pasture was obtained, however, from the two 
crops grown in succession than from the two suc- 
cessive grazings of the one crop, but more labor was 



268 



FORAGE CROPS. 




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SHEEP PASTURES. 269 

also involved. The corn crop was ready for being 
grazed in about six to nine weeks from the date 
of sowing. 

As soon as the corn was grazed down, sorghum 
was ready. It was sown alone in nearly all 
instances, but on two or three occasions rape seed 
was mixed with the sorghum seed. The advantage 
of thus growing the two plants together was not 
clearly apparent, as either the rape or the sorghum 
was pretty certain to crowd the other, but the plan 
should not be condemned without further trial. Fig- 
ure 29 shows sorghum and rape^ the third pasture 
crop grown on the land for the season. The first was 
rape and the second was corn and rape. In one 
instance the sorghum was mown and then pastured. 
In some instances it was grazed down three times 
in succession and in others but twice. Whenever 
it was deemed expedient, the sorghum was foUowed 
by winter rye sown to provide pasture for the fol- 
lowing year, as the sorghum ceased to furnish any 
more pasture after the first frost. Sorghum is not 
relished so highly as some of the other pasture plants 
grown, but when the animals are confined to it they 
consume it with an evident relish, and they make 
much better progress than if confined to dry and 
inadequate grass pastures. 

The last crop grown in the succession was 
cabbage. The seed was sown in rows thirty inches 
distant and at various times. On one plot it was sown 
as early as May nth and on another as late as July 
8th. The late heading varieties sown early proved 
the most satisfactory, but this may not hold true of 
localities in which the cabbage worm (Pieris rapac) 
is not troublesome. This crop proved more satis- 



270 



FORAGE CROPS. 




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SHEEP PASTURES. 2yi 

factory, all things considered, than any other in pro- 
viding pasture in the autumn after the arrival of 
heavy frosts. Severe frosts injure cabbage less 
than rape. If given time enough, sheep v^ill eat the 
cabbage down close to the stem and with almost 
no waste. 

JVhen to Begin Pasturing. — The stage of 
advancement in the various crops at which the pas- 
turing ought to commence will depend upon various 
'conditions, as, for instance, the area to be pastured, 
the habit of growth in the crop and the char- 
acter of the season. The larger the area to be 
eaten down, the greater the tendency in the plants 
to sprout up again, and the more moist the sea- 
son, the sooner may the stock be turned into 
the pasture to graze upon it. 

The pasturing of zvinter rye in the spring 
should begin ordinarily as soon as the rye has begun 
to grow vigorously, and the aim in pasturing should 
be to keep it short. It is then more relished and it 
also furnishes more pasture. In no instance should 
it be allowed to reach the stage of shooting up to 
form the ear before it is grazed down. 

Peas and oats should not be allowed to get more 
than six to ten inches high before the pasturing is 
commenced, and when the area sown is large, it may 
be advantageous to turn in the stock before the crop 
reaches the hight of six inches. 

The pasturing of rape may begin when the 
plants are, say, twelve inches above the ground, but 
it would seem to be true that more pasture will be 
obtained if the rape is allowed to attain its full 
growth before it is eaten down, and the pasture thus 
obtained is probably more valuable. If more than 



272 



FORAGE CROPS. 




SHEEP PASTURES. 2/3 

one growth is to be taken from the plants they 
should not be grazed off closely. 

Co7'n, since it does not sprout again, except 
when grazed while quite young, should be allowed 
to reach the hight of several inches before the sheep 
are given access to it. If they should break much 
of it down while pasturing upon it, they will con- 
sume not a little of what has been so broken in the 
cured form. 

The pasturing of sorghum should begin at an 
earlier stage, relatively, than the pasturing of corn, 
in fact, any time after the plants have become so 
firmly rooted that they cannot be pulled up by the 
sheep while being grazed. But it may be deferred 
to a later period if circumstances should call for 
such a course. 

Cabbage should be allowed to attain a maxi- 
mum of growth before the grazing is commenced. 
If matured before the desired season of pasturing, 
a portion of the leaves on each plant will wither and 
waste away, which means a loss of food in propor- 
tion to the extent of the wasting of the leaves. 

When grazing down such of these pasture 
crops as grow up again and again, more pasture will 
be obtained when the grazing is done quickly and 
in successive periods, with an interval between these, 
than when animals are allowed to remain continu- 
ously on the pastures. In other words, alternation 
in pasturing such crops is better than continuous 
pasturing. 

Comparative Yields. — The amount of pasture 

furnished by the respective crops, as was to be 

expected, varied from time to time and from year to 

year. The following, however, were the maximum 

i8 



274 FORAGE CROPS. 

yields obtained from the various plants named below 
in a single season. They represent the pasture 
obtained from one-fourth of an acre. Rape alone 
furnished pasture sufficient for one matured sheep 
for 356 days; corn followed by sorghum for 507 
days; rye followed by sorghum for 590 days, and 
cabbage alone for 762 days. One acre of cabbage 
of similar development w'ould have furnished food 
enough to sustain one sheep for eight years and 
128 days. 

But these yields must not, by any means, be 
regarded as the largest that may be obtained from 
any of these crops. The soil on which they grew 
was comparatively infertile. Under the most 
favorable conditions it would be possible to obtain 
from rape, for instance, not less than three times 
the amount of pasture mentioned above. And it 
should also be borne in mind that the crops which 
furnish the largest yields of pasture are not neces- 
sarily the most productive in mutton and wool. The 
food constituents in some are much richer than 
in others. 

Mode of Hurdling. — While pasturing off the 
various plats, movable hurdles w^ere used. The fol- 
lowing is a description of these hurdles : Each panel 
is composed of four boards. The one at the bot- 
tom is 6x1 inches and the others are 4x1 inches. 
Across these are nailed three slats or crossbars 4x1 
inches. Two of these are nailed six inches from the 
ends of the panel and on the same side of it, one 
being at each end. The third is nailed across the 
center and on the other side of the panel. The bottom 
space thus formed is six inches, the middle space 
six and one-fourth inches and the top space seven 



SHEEP PASTURES. 275 

and three-fourths inches. The second board from 
the top is cut off flush with the outer edges of each 
end crossbar. 

The headpiece consists of three boards nailed 
together so as to form a triangle. The bottom 
board, 6x1 inches, is three feet six inches long on 
the ground side. The two upright pieces are 4x1 
inches and four feet long. One is nailed on each 
side of the sole piece and they cross each other at 
about six inches from the upper ends. Two notches 
are cut, one above and one below. These are two 
inches wide and three inches deep. They receive 
and hold the top and bottom boards of the panels 
when in place. Wrought or wire nails are used. 

When these hurdles are in place, the headpiece 
stands at right angles to the panel. But strong- 
winds will sometimes tip over such a fence. To 
prevent this, short stakes made of strips of inch 
boards may be driven down at intervals alongside 
the headpiece and fastened to it with a nail, which 
should not be clinched, so that the stake may be 
easily loosened when the fence is lifted. Such a 
fence is not costly. It can be quickly and easily 
moved. It can be stored away with but little labor 
when not in use, and if handled with due care it 
would last for many years. But there would be 
more wear to it if the boards in. the headpiece were 
made of thicker lumber, as they would not then split 
so readily at the notches. It is possible, however, 
that other styles of hurdles may yet be introduced 
that will better serve the end sought. 

Character of the Soil. — The soil is what may 
be termed rolling in character. In composition it 
is a sandy loam on the surface. In texture it is so 



276 FORAGE CROPS. 

Open that much trouble was caused by the washing 
of the soil through heavy rains. In depth, the sur- 
face soil varies from, say, six inches on the high 
ground to eighteen inches on the low ground. 
Underneath the subsoil is chiefly gravel and sand 
admixed. The crops, therefore, as can easily be 
imagined, soon showed signs of languishing on the 
higher ground when the weather became dry and hot. 

Nor was this quick-growing, though naturally 
hungry soil in a high state of fertility. From the 
beginning of 1891 to 1895, no manure had been 
applied, notwithstanding that a grain crop had been 
taken from the land every year. In 1897 a mod- 
erate dressing of barnyard manure was applied. No 
additional fertilizer was used during all these years, 
save on inconsiderable portions to aid in growing 
certain special crops. 

Character of the Weather. — During the three 
seasons of the experiment, the weather was, on the 
whole, favorable to the growth of these pasture 
crops. Showers fell with a fair amount of regu- 
larity. In some instances the moisture from the 
same w^as superabundant, while at other times there 
were intervals of several weeks between the show- 
ers. With less favorable weather the results could 
not have proved so satisfactory. But in justice to 
the system it ought to be stated here, that in dry 
seasons the results from growing sheep pastures as 
in this experiment would be relatively even more 
favorable when compared with results from grazing 
grass pastures only, than they would be in a wet 
season. 

Necessity for Some Grass Pasture. — When 
growing these crops for pasture, it will be necessary 



SHEEP PASTURES. 277 

to have a reserve grass pasture on which to graze 
the sheep as occasion may require. For instance, 
if sheep are grazed upon these crops when wet with, 
rain or even heavy dews, the treading of the land 
at such times will tend to impact it and to break 
down and befoul the food. It will also tend to 
saturate the fleece w4th water, more especially when 
the food is rank and tall. To avoid these hazards, 
a grass pasture should be on hand where the 
.sheep may graze after rain and where they may 
graze and rest at night. Such a pasture is always 
opportune, as when an interval may occur during 
which the other pastures may not be ready for 
being grazed, and the variety thus furnished is also 
helpful. 

Health of the Animals. — The health of the 
animals was exceptionally good. Five animals only 
were lost during the three seasons of pasturing. Of 
these, four died from hoven or bloat while feeding 
on the clover in the grass pasture in the spring of 
1896. The fifth animal died of what was diagnosed 
as pneumonia. There was no instance of bloat 
while feeding upon the other foods. 

Effects on Weed Grozvfh. — Growing crops as 
in the succession given above proved quite destruc- 
tive to weed growth. But few weeds were given 
time to mature because of the frequent stirring of 
the land and also because of the cropping down by 
the sheep. It is doubtful if any method could be 
devised that would be so potent in quickly subduing 
weeds in the soil and at so little cost. Early in the 
season, while the weeds were juicy and tender, they 
were usually the first food eaten by the sheep. But 
later, some varieties, particularly summer grass 



278 FORAGE CROPS. 

(Setaria glauca) were not consumed so eagerly. But 
the seed pods and seed heads of the weeds were con- 
sumed wherever these had been produced. The 
weeds were turned into mutton. 

Inflncnce on Fertility. — The influence on the 
fertihty of the soil was marked. Since but little 
of the food was removed from the pastures, the 
product of the same went back on the land and in 
a readily available form. When sheep are thus 
grazed upon land, if in addition to the pasture they 
are also fed some grain or oil cake, the soil must 
soon become rich in fertility and virtually without 
labor, for the return in mutton and wool should in 
itself bring a direct net profit. 

Sixteen Sheep Pastured on One Acre. — A sec- 
ond experiment was carried on, which also formed 
a part of the first experiment. It was an experi- 
ment within an experiment. It consisted of pastur- 
ing sixteen animals on one acre as far as it was 
found practicable throughout the growing season. 
Of these, six were dams and ten were lambs. The 
acre was divided into quarters, and the pasturing 
alternated on these. During two successive years 
was this experiment continued, beginning with 1895. 
It was not found practicable to keep the sheep con- 
fined to the acre through all the season. There were 
some short intervals each year during which they 
had to be kept on other pasture, and in some 
instances had other sheep to be brought in to eat 
down the excess of pasture. After balancing the 
pasture borrowed against the pasture given away, 
it was found that the acre thus pastured in 1895 and 
also in 1896 had sustained the sixteen animals for 
about five months. With soils rich and productive, 



SHEEP PASTURES. 279 

the results could doubtless be considerably exceeded. 
No grain was fed during the experiment, save for a 
few days at the first, when the change was being 
made from winter to summer food. The ten lambs 
made an increase in live weight of 560^ pounds 
while pasturing on the acre in 1895, and of 532 
pounds while pasturing on the same in 1896. 

Conclusions. — The following are prominent 
among the conclusions that may be drawn from 
^he experiment: 

1. That sheep may be carried safely through 
the summer when confined chiefly to pastures other 
than the common grasses. The uniformly good 
health of the sheep during the three years of the 
experiment was one of the most encouraging of its 
features. When sheep can be confined to such pas- 
tures in the early summer, the danger from parasitic 
troubles will be materially decreased, and more 
especially with the lambs. 

2. That in the United States and Canada a 
great variety of plants may be grown to provide 
such pastures. Those which are the most suitable 
for each locality will vary with the conditions. 

3. That among the plants adapted to such a 
use, winter rye, sorghum and rape are worthy of a 
prominent place. Each in its season produces a 
large amount of pasture. Each can be grown in 
nearly all parts of the United States and Canada 
possessed of an arable soil, and each is the comple- 
ment of the other two. Winter rye furnishes pas- 
ture in the spring and in the autumn, but chiefiy 
in the spring. Sorghum is at its best in the hot 
weather of summer, and rape is emphatically the 
autumn pasture plant. With these three and a 



280 FORAGE CROPS. 

grass pasture, sheep can be kept on succulent food 
all the season. 

4. That with the aid of such pastures a much 
larger number of sheep can be kept upon an arable 
farm than could be sustained by grass pastures with- 
out the aid of these. The extent of such increase 
will depend upon a number of conditions. 

5. That such a system of pasturage is eminently 
helpful in destroying weeds and also eminently 
beneficial to the land, as explained above. 

The Principle in the Experiment. — It may be 
mentioned here, and with much propriety, that this 
experiment is not intended to be an absolute guide 
for the farmer. The chief aim sought in carrying 
it on was to demonstrate the possibility and the 
practicability of pasturing sheep during the greater 
portion of the season on pastures other than grass, 
that is to say, on pastures sown expressly for the 
purpose. The principle thus sought has been dem- 
onstrated, notwithstanding that many things about 
it are yet undetermined, as, for instance, the relative 
suitability of certain foods for the purpose, and the 
very best methods of growing them, also the rela- 
tive profit in pasturing sheep thus as compared with 
pasturing them on grass only. Some of these, of 
course, can never be determined other than in an 
approximate way. 

Tlie Application of the Principle. — The appli- 
cation of the principle must be made by the flock- 
master himself, and in consonance with the nature 
of his surroundings. For instance, he must ascer- 
tain, first, which of these summer crops are the best 
adapted to his conditions ; second, how many of them 
he will grow and the relative acreage of each ; third. 



SHEEP PASTURES. 28 1 

the succession at which he shall grow them, and, 
fourth, the nature and extent of the fencing 
required. Though the principle is applicable in all 
the arable sections of the United States and Canada, 
the application of it will vary with the surroundings, 
and it will vary from year to year with the specific 
requirements for that particular season. 

There are but few flockmasters, however, pos- 
sessed of tillable land who cannot embody the prin- 
ciple, to some extent at least, in their practice. They 
can grow one or more of these foods to pasture the 
sheep on when the grasses are dry. That alterna- 
tion in grazing off the pastures may be possible, the 
fields may either be permanently fenced, or movable 
fences may be used. The greatest convenience and 
profit wilfmost probably be found in combining the 
two ideas, that is to say, in having some fields long 
rather than broad enclosed with permanent fences, 
and then using some portable fence to be placed 
across the narrow fields as occasion may require. 
With winter rye, sorghum, rape and a grass pas- 
ture, sheep can be supplied with succulent food from 
spring until the advent of winter. In some seasons 
one of these along with grass may suffice, in other 
seasons two of them, and yet, again, all three may 
be necessary. But various other plants may yet be 
introduced which will possess even superior adapta- 
tion in providing summer pasture for sheep. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIG. PAGE. 

1. Rape Plant Grown for Seed, Frontispiece 

2. Sheep Pasturing on F'irst Growth of Corn and Rape 1 1 

3. Second Growth of Rape Sown with Corn - - 23 

4. Sorghum Grown for Fodder ----- 29 

5. Sorghum and Rape -------35 

6. Sorghum and Rye, Third Crop - - - - -37 

7. Sheep Pasturing on First Growth Sorghum - - 44 

8. Sheep Pasturing on Second Growth Sorghum - - 46 

9. Red Kaffir Corn Grown for Fodder - - - 49 

10. White Kaffir Corn Grown for Fodder - -• - 5i 

11. White Milo Maize Grown for Fodder - - - 53 

12. Brown Dhourra Grown for Fodder - - - - 55 

13. Jerusalem Corn Grown for Fodder - - - - 57 

14. Eight Plants of Green Field Pea - - - - 104 

15. Field Peas, Noosack Valley, W^ash - - - - 108 

16. The Sand Vetch in Bloom ------ 123 

17. Sheep Pasturing on Sand Vetch - - - - 128 

18. Sheep Pasturing on Cowpeas ----- 132 

19. Sheep Pasturing on Soy Beans _ - - - 143 

20. Sheep on Rape Sown for Early Pasture - - - 148 

21. Rape Grown for Seed ------ 151 

22. Sheep Pasturing on Cabbage ----- 167 

23. Pearl Millet Grown for Fodder - - - - 199 

24. Australian Saltbush ------- 249 

25. Sheep Barn -------- 264 

26. Sheep Pasturing on Winter Rye ----- 266 

27. Rape and Clover Pasture ----- 268 

28. Sheep Pasturing on Second Growth Rape - - - 270 

29. Sorghum and Rape Pasture ----- 272 



INDEX 



PAGE 

Alfalfa, discussion of.. 93-102 

described 94 

distribution of 95 

place in the rotation for. .96 

soils for 96 

preparing the soil for 97 

sowing 98 

cultivating 100 

pasturing 100 

observations on 102 

Alsike clover 82-87 

Artichokes, discussion of 

212-220 

described 212 

reasons for growing 213 

objections to growing.. 213 

varieties of 214 

distribution of 214i 

place in the rotation for 

215 

soils for 216 

preparing the soil for.. 216 

planting 217 

cultivating 218 

pasturing 218 

observations on 219 

Australian salt bush.. 248-251 

Beggar's ticks 246-248 

Cabbage, discussion of, 

163-169 

distribution of 163 

place in the rotation for 164 

soils for 164 

preparing the soil for.. 164 

sowing o 165 

cultivating 166 

pasturing 168 

observations on 169 

Cereals, discussion of, 

170-188 
Clover olants, discussion 

of 67-102 

Clover, alsike, discussion 

of 82-87 

contrasted with the me- 
dium red 82 

distribution of 83 

place in the rotation for. .83 
soils for. CO... = ..83 



FAOB 

Clover — Continued 
preparing the soil for.... 84 

sowing 84 

pasturing 86 

observations on 87 

Clover, crimson, discus- 
sion of 88-93 

described 88 

distribution of 88 

place in the rotation for. 90 

soils for 90 

preparing the soil for 91 

sowing 91 

cultivating 92 

pasturing 93 

observations on 93 

Clover, mammoth, discus- 
sion of 78-82 

contrasted with me- 
dium red 78 

distribution of 78 

place in the rotation for.. 79 

soils for 79 

preparing the soil for 80 

sowing 80 

cultivating 81 

pasturing 81 

observations on 82 

Clover, medium red, dis- 
cussion of 67-78 

distribution of 68 

place in the rotation for.. 69 

soils for 69 

preparing the soil for.... 70 

sowing 71 

cultivating 74 

pasturing 75 

Common vetch 115-121 

Corn or maize, discus- 
sion of 8-27 

varieties of 9 

habits of growth of 9 

for pasture for sheep 10 

for pasture for cattle 10 

distribution of 13 

place in the rotation for.. 15 

soils for 16 

preparing the soil for 17 

fertilizers for 19 



285 



2S6 



INDEX. 



FAOB 

Corn or maize — Continued 

sowing or planting 20 

sowing rape seed with.. 21 

cultivating 22 

pasturing 24 

observations on 25 

Cowpea, discussion of. 128-138 

described 129 

varieties of 130 

distribution of 131 

place m the rotation for, 

131 

soils for 133 

preparing the soil for.. 134 

sowing 135 

cultivating 136 

pasturing 137 

observ^ations on 137 

Crimson clover 88-89 

Dhourra 50-52 

Field pea 103-115 

Flat pea 222-224 

Forage, definition of 1 

definitions, exceptions to.. 3 

why not grow more 4 

reasons for growing 4 

who should grow 5 

outcome from growing 6 

plants discussed 7 

Japan clover 228-229 

Jerusalem corn 52 

Kaffir corn 50 

Kale 235-237 

Leguminous plants other 

than clover 103-144 

Lupines 240-242 

Mammoth clover 78-82 

Medium red clover 67-78 

Millets, discussion of.. 189-201 
classified and described. 190 

distribution of 192 

place in the rotation of.. 194 

soils for 195 

preparing the soil for... 195 

fertilizers for 197 

sowing 197 

cultivating 200 

pasturing 201 

Milo maize 50 

Miscellaneous plants, dis- 
cussion of 221-251 

Mixed grains, discussion 

of 180-187 

pastures from 180 

distribution of 181 



I>A6S 

Mixed grains — Continmd 

soils for 182 

preparing the soil for... 182 

sowing 183 

cultivating 184 

pasturing 184 

observations on 185 

Mustard 237-240 

Non-saccharine sorghums, 

discussion 48-66 

varieties of 48 

described 50 

comparison between 52 

distribution of 56 

place in the rotation for.. 59 

soils for 59 

preparing the soil for 60 

sowing or planting 61 

cultivating 63 

pasturing 66 

Pasturing cereals when 

young 187-188 

Peanuts 243-244 

Peas, field, discussion of, 

103-115 

varieties of 103 

habit of growth 105 

distribution of 106 

place in the rotation for.107 

soils for 109 

preparing the soil for 110 

fertilizers for Ill 

sowing Ill 

pasturing 113 

Plants discussed 7-8 

Rape, discussion of 145-163 

rapid extension in the 

growth of 146 

qualities of 147 

described 148 

distribution of 149 

growing seed 150 

place in the rotation for 150 

soils for 152 

preparing soils for 153 

sowing 153 

Root crops 202-212 

Rutabagas, discussion of, 

202-208 

distribution of 203 

place in the rotation for. 203 

soil for 204 

preparing the soil for.. 204 

fertilizers for 205 

sowing 205 

cultivating 207 



INDEX. 



287 



PAGE 

Rutabagas — Continued 

pasturing 207 

Rye 171-180 

Sacaline 242-243 

Sainfoin 229-232 

Sand vetch 121-128 

Sheep pastures at the 
Minnesota university 
experiment farm. ..261-281 
objects sought in grow- 
ing 261 

outline- of 262 

grazing off 263 

succession in 263 

when to begin grazing.. 271 
comparative yields of ..273 

mode of handling 274 

character of the soil.... 275 
weather when grazing.. 276 
some grass pasture nec- 
essary 276 

health of the animals.. 277 

effects on weeds 277 

influence on fertility ..278 
sixteen sheep on one 

acre 278 

conclusions 279 

principle in the experi- 
ment 280 

application of the prin- 
ciple 280 

Sorghum, discussion of. .28-47 

uses nf 28 

a midsummer pasture ..30 

classes of 31 

manner of growth 31 

power to withstand 

drouth 132 

not much grown in com- 
binations 32 

distribution of 32 

place in the rotation.. ..34 

soils for 34 

preparing the soil for.... 36 

fertilizers for 38 

sowing- or planting 3P 

sowin;^ rape with 41 

cultivating 42 

pasturmg 43 

alleged danger from pas- 
turing 45 

Soy bean, discussion of, 

138-144 

described 130 

distribution of 139 



PAGE 

Soy bean — Continued 
place in the rotation for. 140 

soils for 141 

preparing the soil for ..141 

sowing 141 

cultivating 143 

pasturing 144 

observations on 144 

Spurry 232-235 

Succession in forage 

crops discussed 252-260 

Sweet clover 224-226 

Teosinte 52 

Turnips, discussion of 

208-212 

distribution of 209 

place in rotation for 209 

soil suitable for 209 

preparing the soil for.. 209 

sowing 209 

pasturing 211 

observations on 211 

Velvet beans 244-246 

Vetch, the common, dis- 
cussion of 115-121 

described 116 

distribution of 117 

place in the rotation for. 118 

soils for 118 

preparing the soil for ..119 

sowing 119 

cultivating 120 

pasturing 120 

observation 121 

Vetch, the sand, discus- 
sion of 121-128 

described 121 

distribution of 122 

place in the rotation for. 123 

soils for 123 

sowing 123 

cultivating 126 

pasturing 126 

observations on 128 

Winter rye, discussion of, 

171-180 

distribution of 172 

place in the rotation for.173 

soils for 173 

preparing the soil for... 174 

sowing 175 

cultivating 176 

pasturing 177 

observations on 17^ 

Yellow clover 226-228 



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